Sweetgrass (edition 2010)

This was on a recommendation list for chicklit I was trying. I have been finding this isn't a genre to my liking, but I had hopes for this one given the blurb on the cover from Pat Conroy, a first rate writer of literary fiction about the South Carolina lowcountry in which this is set. From the beginning though, this struck me as wretchedly written. Clumsy dialogue with people dumping information already known to both of them and melodramatic in tone. It also features a plot device I find irritating--the eeeeeevil developer. I found it all the more irritating given what I was supposed to root for as worth preserving: Sweetgrass Plantation--in the Blakely family 300 years complete with a colonial mansion and a family crest. Tara ho! The book isn't even consistent about how long the place has been in the family. Supposedly for only 8 generations and with the founding matriarch supposedly in "nineteenth century" dress in her portrait. How does that go with three centuries? The utter last straw though is when the current family matriarch goes to see the old black housekeeper, Nona. Nona then talks to her daughter, Maize, of her pride that their family has served the Blakelys for generations going back to the days of slavery. At least poor Maize seems as bewildered as I was at the sentiment. But no, just no. Believe me, I'm far from politically correct. I love Gone With the Wind. Truly I do! But it was all more than my lil' Yankee heart could stand. ( )

The Blakely family has owned Sweetgrass for generations, but now a threat from within their own family makes it seem likely that they will lose the land to developers. After tragedy strikes father Preston, Morgan returns home from Montana and looks for a way to save the land. The story is much deeper than this. Sweetgrass is a metaphor that many readers will recognize even before it is discussed in one scene late in the book. The characters are outstanding in this book. There are some readers will like and others readers will not, but they all are woven together to come up with a very satisfying read that champions putting limits on development to protect natural resources. I've often admired the sweetgrass baskets when I've visited the Charleston area, but I had no idea that the sweetgrass used to make the baskets is becoming more difficult to find because so many of the lands which once thrived with it have been commercially developed. ( )

loved the book. a good southern tale of family ( )

The thing about Mary Alice Monroe's books is that you always learn something. Sometimes it's about loggerheads, sometimes about birds of prey. Sometimes it's about heritage and tradition, as well as preserving the beauty of this wonderful lowcountry. That's why I always snap up her books-- the stories are the vehicle, at times almost incidental (though always well charactered and well told) to share this wonderful place with the world. Thank you, Mary Alice.

From the Publisher

Sweetgrass is a historical tract of land in South Carolina that has been home to the Blakely family for eight generations.

But Sweetgrass -- named for the indigenous grass that grows in the area -- is in trouble. Bulldozers are leveling surrounding properties. and the Blakelys could be forced to sell the one thing that continues to hold their disintegrating family together. For some of the Blakelys, the prospect of selling Sweetgrass is bittersweet -- for others, it is completely unimaginable. But as they find the strength to stay and fight, they realize that their bond as a family is all they need to stay together. ( )

A Carolina Lowcountry story of a family keeping their emotions knotted up tighter than the sweetgrass baskets made by their former housekeeper. Family patriarch Preston Blakely has suffered a devastating stroke leaving him unable to talk. It happens at a time when it seems as if the Blakelys will be losing the home that has been in the family for generations. For Mama June that prospect is bittersweet as she has known joy and heartache on the place that has divided her family. She must dive deep into herself to find the strength to keep going and fight for her family. ( )