Ann B. Ross

Miss Betty Rose has been telling me how wonderful the Miss Jool-ya books are, and I do declare, this one was mighty entertaining! (It helped to have Betty Rose's lovely southern speech in my mind as I read Julia's words and thoughts.)

I am not quite at "that certain age," and am blessed to have grown up in a less sheltered world and far less confining marriage than those of Miss Julia's era. I nonetheless enjoyed riding along as the newly widowed Julia threw-off the mindset of meek southern show more womanhood and embraced the joy of thinking for herself - and learning to recognize when she was being patronized and manipulated.

This is a tale with lively characters, a madcap plot, and some very funny (and hysterically subversive, in context) observations about old-time religion, small towns and chauvenism. It's a grrl-power tale for my mother's generation (not that my mother EVER had any problems speaking her mind,) and a delightful read for the rest of us. show less

Miss Julia is back in the 5th book of this charming series about a Southern lady of a certain age and her household. This time practically the entire town joins Miss Julia in her favorite “exercise” – jumping to conclusions. From Hazel Marie to Pastor Ledbetter and his wife Emma Sue everyone is ready to act on suspicions.

Of course there is some real drama going on as well. An itinerant “pastor” has convinced Miss Julia to lease him some land just outside town so he can build a show more “Walk Where Jesus Walked” theme park. He seems to be backed by a rather oily door-to-door salesman with a private jet. Before Miss Julia can get to the bottom of this, she gets embroiled in several closer-to-home scandals, including the return of her friend’s prodigal son, back home from ten years in New York, now calling himself Tonya and wearing designer dresses. And Lillian’s five-year-old granddaughter has come for an extended stay. So, Miss Julia has her hands full!

Not to mention that Sam will not stop asking her to marry him and she is just not ready to say yes. At least not until she discovers that SHE is the subject of unfounded rumors of “unseemly behavior.” So, she decides to give them something to talk about and asks Sam to get her a fake ring that will stop tongues wagging. He couldn’t be happier to comply and comes up with a real whopper!

I love this series. It’s like spending time with old friends you haven’t seen in a while and relishing in all the news and gossip over a nice glass of lemonade (perhaps fortified with a little extra something). show less

Don't even bother cracking this book cover, unless you're hungry for boiled cabbage because the book is as bland as that recipe suggests.

It amazes me beyond all comprehension why such a talented writer would waste her time churning out this bland, flavourless offering. I have no idea what the rest of the Miss Julia series is like, but if this is any indication, it's better to stop here and venture no further.

Her characters are as vapid as the recipes offered herein: lots of canned products show more like creamed corn, mushroom soup and a collection of beans. Swirl the entire mess with ketchup, lipton soup mixes and multiple varieties of duncan hines cake mixes ... and there you have some good old fashioned southern .... bleh! If this is southern cooking at its best, pass the plate to the lady in the next seat, for I'm truly bilious.

Why two stars??? Ann Ross has TALENT. Why waste it on this drivel? show less

Miss Julia is just getting used to being a widow -- and a wealthy one, at that -- when a visitor comes to her door with another legacy she didn't expect: her late husband's nine-year-old son.

This is part comedy of manners, as Miss Julia, childless throughout her 47-year marriage, attempts to do the right thing for the boy while simultaneously coming to a slow boil over her husband's infidelity, part adventure romp as various claimants to the estate attempt to get their hands on the kid, and show more part velvet-gloved smack at that particular variety of religious belief that insists no woman is capable of managing her own affairs, all wrapped up in small-town manners as sugary and corrosive as sweet tea.

Readers who enjoy Fannie Flagg's novels will eat this one up like hot corn bread with honey. show less