Bound South: A Novel (edition 2009)

I would say that Bound South is a group of connected short stories. There's not really one plot that connects the chapters. Instead, I would say that the author uses these stories, told from the points of view of three different Southern ladies, to explore issues they each face and how hard it can be to move past them, even when they try.

I thought the author did a fantastic job giving each character her own voice. With each story being written in first person, it was very important that she get this right and she did. Louise, the upper-class society matron who holds some surprising views; Caroline, her teenage daughter who is constantly seeking; and Missy, their housekeeper's daughter who tries to hold tight to religion in an increasingly sinful world. Each told her own story in her own way and had something to contribute to the story.

At times funny, sometimes sad, and always thought-provoking, some of the issues the women face are the obvious, such as race, sexual orientation/identity, poverty, religion, and a middle-aged woman's constantly shifting role in her children's lives. Some of the others are not so obvious, such as the surprising directions exploitation can come from, stupid choices that can affect your whole life, how sometimes you're not the only one who carries the weight of your sins, and how hard it is to watch your children make mistakes. But these women face each challenge as it comes, do the best they can, and try to learn from it.

I loved this passage, as Louise is thinking about her daughter:

"How do I tell her that what I want is to know her, to know the woman who made these birds, to see what she might become if she is allowed to spread out, to expand. How do I say, Darling, please. Don't shrink yourself so soon." (Emphasis is the author's)

But I like to feel a connection to the characters I'm reading about and that never happened for me in this book. I loved that I was forced to think about my own beliefs and values, but I did miss that connection. That's why I only gave it three stars. But readers who don't mind that and who want to see what a Southern woman has to say about some current issues, should pick this up. ( )

A delightful readable tale of three women of the South. This is a contemporary tale with the three women connected through life and blood. Some of this was laugh out loud funny. A writer that can accomplish this is a skilled one! ( )

Southern fiction. Secrets. Mother/Daughter angst. Huge divide between haves & have nots. Not that haves would notice. A good read. ( )

Picking up this book for a dollar at the local library book sale, I thought, 'great, this looks like just the light read I need right now'. And thankfully, not to disappoint, it was. But yet it did have points to that caused me to pause and ponder. Mixing the unlikely pairing of stories about three women: mother, daughter and the housekeeper's daughter, each chapter focused on a snippet of time of that individual and how eventually they entwined. What emerged were issues of family, wealth, religion, race and ultimately just life. While some portions were a bit cliche and caused me at times to think to myself, 'really?', I would turn the to the next page and a conversation, like one between mother and daughter, would make me laugh and think, 'oh, how true!' As I finished this enjoyable book, I began wonder if that wasn't the author's clever intent all along. Recommended. ( )

I initially rated this book four stars, then went back and gave it one more for the conclusion of the first chapter alone. Hysterical.

Being a southerner, I'm always on the lookout for good Southern fiction, and I found it with this book. Told from the perspective of three women, it showcases brilliantly the intersection of Old and New South, their morals, practices and outlooks.

Louise is almost a throwforward (the opposite of throwback) in how she thinks, worships and parents. It's refreshing to see a character who can admit to herself, and to her child, that the child is workin' her last nerve, and she's done. We also see her admit that one child is easier than the other, usually taboo with "good" parents.

Caroline, in defying every institution her mother adores, ends up circling around and very nearly becoming her mother all over again.

Missy, the young daughter of Louise's housekeeper, is fiercely loyal to her beliefs, including the one that says if she could just find her runaway father and remind him that he has a daughter, everything would be just fine. It certainly doesn't happen that way, and Missy ends up with more than disappointment out of the deal.

In the end - which does come rather abruptly - we see how the lives of these women change as they experience the twists and turns their lives take. The takeaway message for me was that nature, nurture and what we live through makes up the whole of who we are.

I can't wait for the next one! ( )