From Publishers Weekly
Award-winning author of the Southern Sisters Mysteries (Murder Shoots the Bull, etc.) and former Alabama State Poet, George proves she can smoothly shift genres in this silky and passionate literary novel. Sullivan family members are returning to their sleepy Harlow, Ala., hometown to mourn the death of 58-year-old Artie (Artemis) Sullivan, a spunky and talented painter. Her twin brother, Donnie (Adonis), and younger sibling, Hektor, along with Donnie's wife, Mariel, and their daughter, Dolly, learn more than they expected. Artie's death has her loved ones ransacking their memories to hold the truths, half-truths and outright lies of their lives up to the light. Upset by Artie's wish to be cremated, Mariel produces a fake funeral to keep up appearances, while she examines her jealousy of Artie's intense bond with Donnie and Dolly. Donnie and Hektor unearth painful memories about their parents' early deaths and their mother's mental instability, seductive beauty and affair with neighbor Zeke Pardue. They also reveal a dark, decades-old family secret that only Artie's death could bring to the surface. The narrative can be confusing as it haphazardly switches points of view: some chapters are in the third person, others are written in the voices of various characters. But perhaps the polyvocal approach is an adequate device to explain the myriad entanglements and reveal the harbored secrets of this family. Sad moments include a father who accidentally kills his baby by leaving her out in the hot sun while he passes out drunk; a more subtle passage features Artemis making love with her cousin Bo. Drawing on her poetic roots, George's assured, soft Southern prose is full of symbolism and lyrical phrases, with much stargazing, Greek mythology and rising and setting suns to infuse the homey story with a mystical aura. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Perhaps best known for her sweetly Southern murder mysteries, the "Southern Sisters" series, George steps out of the role that brought her an Agatha Award for Murder on a Girls' Night Out to give us the sights, sounds, and memories of coastal Alabama. With her trademark witty dialog and smart characters, George presents the story of the Sullivan family. The reader will join other "outsiders" looking in on the very close and ultimately dangerous relationships between parents Thomas and Sarah and twin brother and sister Donnie and Artie (originally named Adonis and Artemis by their mythologically inclined father). The family has gathered to say goodbye to the dying Artie, beloved artist and genteel soul. Through the grief and humor converge stories of other members of the Sullivan family, including Hektor, Dolly, and Mariel. This poignant and bittersweet novel is a pleasure to read and shows great promise from an already proven writer. Fans of "Southern Sisters" will not be disappointed, and others who stumble upon this novel will want to discover all of George's works.
-AShannon Haddock, Bellsouth Corporate Lib. & Business Research Ctr., Birmingham, AL Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
