Ken F

I finished reading A Good Hard Look a few days ago, but the squawk of those nasty magnificent peacocks still resonates. Flannery O’Connor and her final years at Andalusia, her family farm in Milledgeville, Georgia, is at the core of this powerful novel. I didn’t know much about O’Connor when I started the book. I know much more now and I have one of her collections on hold at my local library.

Ann Napolitano has written a compelling story with a Southern Gothic feel. I loved the way that the major characters lives intertwined, amid the horrible noise of those darned peacocks. I became particularly involved with the marriage of Cookie and Melvin…a comedy of errors laced with tragedy…and the aftermath of that relationship. And Melvin’s friendship with Flannery was fascinating; two lonely people coming together out of need.

In fact, the novel is filled with lonely people making choices and having to live with the outcome of those choices. And I felt for those characters. I wanted them to find the right path through their hardships. Some do, some don’t. Such is life.

I work at Books & Company, an independent bookstore in Oconomowoc, WI. A Good Hard Look will surely end up on my recommend shelf. It’s a novel that moved me and involved me. It’s a fine novel, perfect for reading group discussions.

Christine Wall's Sweeping Up Glass has to be one of the finest novels that I've read this year. This is a story filled with heart, most of it generated by its wonderful narrator Olivia Harker Cross, an honest hard-working Kentuckian. Olivia's grit and determination reminded me of another Kentuckian Gertie Nevells, Harriette Arnow's main character in The Dollmaker.

From its opening pages I knew that Sweeping Up Glass was going to be a special story. The reader finds Olivia distraught at the heartless killings of wolves on her land. The carcasses are left with one ear cut off. Olivia's determination to find the guilty party amidst the continuing sacrifices she makes for her family set up what is to follow.

I think the novel's most memorable relationship is the one between Olivia and her young grandson Will'm. She's raised Will'm like a son ever since her daughter abandoned him for better things in Hollywood. Olivia's love for Will'm knows no bounds. Thanks to Olivia's vigilance we see him growing into a kind, sensitive, compassionate young man.

Sweeping Up Glass is an absorbing story of grief, hardship. love and hate with characters that ring out with the resonance of truth. I loved it! A perfect selection for reading groups.