I was in a book store and happened upon this book (see July 21st post, minding my own business). I read the liner notes and thought it looked promising, so I got it along with several other books. I had finished another book and was ready to move on to something new, so I started reading it.
Good story, good book, very prose worthy. But I get the feeling it’s more of a chick book.
Why? There was a bit of drama. Not enough to make me stop reading, but enough. Don’t get me wrong, it really is a good book, and I highly recommend it. This is a story about feelings, and the strides one takes to get past them. It is about a strong will, some ego mongers, happiness, sadness, life, death, anger, willingness, character. I could go on but you get the point. I caught myself being moved several times during the read, and even had strong opinions during certain passages.
And I hate that. I’m not a fan of drama, I’d prefer very little drama be shown to me, because I already have enough drama in my life, I don’t need to see someone else’s.
But there I was, happily reading away, becoming more and more ensconced in the story.
It’s a great book, I can’t deny it. It takes place in turn-of-the-century small town in Virginia during Prohibition. Our heroine, Sally Kincaid, is given, or had been forced on, a lot to live up to. She was born into wealth, discarded, recalled, put to work, found her own work, dealt with multiple shifts in power, wound up being the one in charge, dealt with boot-legging, family feuds, family greed, family deaths, and on and on and on. But her biggest problem was going against the norm and not getting married, something everyone wanted her to do.
A lot of this had to do with her father, the Great Duke Kincaid. He pretty much owned the town, making him the de facto authority on all things. He also had to have things run according to his will, both in town and at home. He was the one that sent Sally on her long adventure of discovery, even after his demise. He set the ball rolling, and as one after another came to try to fill his shoes Sally gets tossed around trying to figure out where her loyalties lie.
And it all began with the Duke and Sally’s mother, and the woman before her, and the woman after her, and even the woman after her. It’s a sordid mess, testing Sally’s strength to navigate through all of it.
So it’s a great work, a beautiful story, set in a wonderful town, full of great characters, so many you may find it hard to keep track. I recommend it highly, but again, I also see it as a chick book. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. After all, I read it through completion.
Arid Testimony 