Fannie Flagg

I adore Fannie Flagg's southern fiction, and was thrilled to learn of a new release. The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion is a heartwarming tale of family, idenity and flying.

Sookie (Sarah Jane) Poole is a timid fifty nine year old wife and mother in Pt Clear, Alabama. She has never doubted who she is, despite being a continual disappointment to her mother, the imperious Southern matriarch Lenore Simmons Krackenberry, until she accidentally learns her mothers darkest secret.

The dual show more narrative alternates between the fallout of Sookie's discovery as she struggles to reconcile what she has always believed to be true with what her mothers secret reveals, and the fascinating story of the Jurdabralinski sisters of Wisconsin, to whom Sookie learns she is connected.

Sookie's identity crisis has her questioning the issue of nature versus nurture, wondering what might have been, had things been different. Though I thought perhaps her angst dragged on a bit too long, there is also a lot of humour and warmth in Sookie's journey, and of course in the sharing of the eccentricities of her Southern Belle mother and the benefits and pitfalls of small town living.

I was, however, always most eager to get back to the story of the Jurdabralinski's, a hardworking, Polish immigrant family of four daughters and one son. Fritzi, the most adventurous and unconventional of the girls, forges an extraordinary career as an aerial wing walker after being swept off her feet by a handsome but roguish stunt flyer. Unfortunately the war interrupts her career and she returns home where she is faced with the challenge of rescuing her family's gas station business while their father is recovering from TB and her brother in serving in the military. At Fritzi's suggestion, the four daughters of the family take over and manage to keep it profitable by exploiting the novelty of the girls being in charge...hence the title of the novel.
As the war drags on, Fritzi is finally given the chance to fly again when, due to the lack of manpower available, women were reluctantly recruited by the military to assist in the war effort, transporting goods, including the planes themselves around the country. Eventually three of the Jurdabralinski sisters become fly girls,
I was fascinated by this element of the novel, the WASP's, despite skepticism, and sometimes outright opposition, proved they were more than capable of providing crucial assistance to their country, but were never given official recognition by the powers that be and were summarily dismissed when the war finally ended. I love that Flagg has given recognition to this group of unsung heroines.

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion is a charming story combining southern humour and eccentricity with a fascinating tale of adventure and heroism. Flagg is a wonderful storyteller and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this delightful novel. show less

I really don't know why this treasure sat on my tbr pile for four years. I bought it after I read „Standing in the Rainbow“ which I absolutely adored, and then I put off reading it.
Usually I don't like reading family sagas too much, but every once in a while one comes along that grabs you, makes you laugh and cry and doesn't let you go until you've turned the last page. And beyond. This is one of those books. I fell in love with the story and the people in it after about ten pages.

Not show more only Idgie and Ruth grow on you, but also all the other people of Whistle Stop.
Ninny Threadgood, an 86-year-old woman living in a retirement home, tells Evelyn Couch, a depressed, overweight and middle-aged woman stories from her life in Whistle Stop.
Everybody and their stories are connected and the book takes place over several decades and generations. They all have their own struggles and fights. But in the end it's an optimistic book about friendship, love and the memories of a better time.
Through the stories Ninny tells about her past, Evelyn finds her strength to live again and learns how to be happy and content.

This has quickly become one of my favorite books, I knew after only a few chapters that I will remember Whistle Stop for quite a while. show less

Fannie Flagg is one of my favorite "feel good" authors. Her characters are always so down-to-earth funny and often remind me of my relatives on my mother’s side of the family (the non-Italians). Here we have the elderly auntie Elner, whose age is undetermined because her sister destroyed the family bible and no one knows exactly when she was born. Suffice it to say, Elner is old. She is also fond of making fig jam, and climbing ladders to pick the fresh figs, thus ignoring any advise from show more her niece Norma about behaving herself as proper ladies should. Norma isn't so much worried that Aunt Elner will hurt herself as she is about what the neighbors will think.


So of course Elner falls from the tree after being stung by wasps and goes to heaven where she meets one of her heroines--“Neighbor Dorothy” of the famous Midwest radio show of the mid 1900s. Elner also meets God (aka Raymond), visits with Thomas Edison, and then, much to her regret, gets sent back to earth to tell people to enjoy life and stop worrying so much.

Needless to say, no one believes her, and the interactions and reactions of the townspeople when they find out that Elner isn’t dead after all are priceless. The scene where Elner sits up in the emergency room after five hours of 'flat line' is worth the price of the whole book! This is a laugh-out-loud funny book with enough message to get it past the fluff stage. A definite curl up for an afternoon and enjoy the hot chocolate book. Alternately, if you're into audio, this is another great one to keep you going while you're exercising. show less

Yay for Fannie Flagg. No one else can capture the southern heart like she does, and no one else can be so subtly funny either. I just finished reading a book before this one that, although very good, was very sad and quite depressing. This book was a wonderful antidote for me. I laughed so many times throughout this heartwarming little treasure. The main character is Maggie Fontenroy, an ex-Miss Alabama who really hasn't seen much change in her 60 years. She is back living in Birmingham show more Alabama, and selling real estate. Ms. Flagg paints such a poignant picture of life in 2008 in Birmingham that I felt that I really knew the place and the wonderful characters that she created. The whole book is about Maggie's quest to "go away", and being a proper southern lady, she wants to make sure that all her affairs are in order and that she leaves owing no debts and that she causes as little trouble as possible to her friends with her absence. But life happens and Maggie has to keep changing her plans and her time. And she discovers that she is not the only person in the world who has a dark and secret past. I absolutely loved Maggie, and wish I could actually meet her some day. She is that real! show less