Sunday, May 27, 2012

Review: Five Miles South of Peculiar


About the Book:
Darlene Caldwell, reigning matriarch of Sycamores, a spacious Southern estate in northern Florida, is having a birthday—her fiftieth. Her younger sister, Nolie, is helping Darlene’s boyfriend, Henry, plan a huge celebration that will involve almost everyone in the small town of Peculiar. But Darlene doesn’t know the party planners have invited her twin sister, Carlene, to come from New York for the festivities—after all, it’s Carlene’s birthday, too, and before Carlene went off to become a famous singer on Broadway she was toasted as Peculiar’s Buttercup Squash Festival Queen.

    So Nolie and Henry send off the invitation…and are stunned when Carlene actually shows up, dragging luggage and a load of family baggage in her wake. Can these sisters reach an understanding and learn to live together in peace?

My Comments:
I loved it.  What more is there to say?  There is no relationship quite like that between sisters.  Love, support, jealousy, insecurity, and how many more emotions, come up when sisters come together.  Darlene and Nolie have never left the small town in which they were raised.  Carlene has been in New York, singing on Broadway, since she finished high school.  She's been back to visit, but those visits have been few and brief, and no one knows why.  Darlene and Carlene are twins, and used to be close.  They aren't anymore--but neither knows the reason the other pulled away.  Nolie is younger and has always been the baby of the family, even though she is now near forty.  After a humiliating end to a romantic relationship years ago, she has chosen to remain a semi-child in the family home.  She has never risked that type of love again.  

All three sisters are stuck; while life is pleasant enough for all of them, none of them have really grown in the last few years, they are stagnating.  This is the story of what happens when external events bring change and therefore growth to their lives.  

Like most of Angela Hunts books, Five Miles South of Peculiar is considered Christian fiction.  Like most of them, it is heavy on the fiction, light on the Christian.  One of the main characters is a preacher; however he doesn't preach, or pray very much.  I think most people who enjoy what is considered "women's fiction" would like this, whether or not they like religious fiction.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for providing a complimentary review copy.  I was not obligated to write a positive review, but in this case I couldn't do anything else.  Grade:  A.  

My Reviews of Other Books by Angela Hunt:

2 comments:

  1. I love these crazy southern family type novels - sounds fun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. sounds like a 'new" fine art of insincerity... which was good

    ReplyDelete


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