Laura Lane McNeal
Author of Dollbaby
Works by Laura Lane McNeal
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Southern Methodist University
Tulane University - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
- Places of residence
- New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
New York, New York, USA
Dallas, Texas, USA - Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
Dollbaby by Laura Lane McNeal starts with the amazing journey through the life of Ibby who moves in with her grandmother after the death of her father and being abandoned by her mother. More importantly, Dollbaby is the story of the women who touch Izzy’s life and their own personal journeys.
The character development was remarkable and I came to love these women, Ibby; her grandmother Fannie; and Fannie’s two maids, Queenie and Dollbaby. These women could not be any different than they show more are, yet, they love one another in a profound way.
Fannie suffers from moments of dark depression, and it is the cause of that depression that slowly unfolds. While secrets are uncovered, we see how each woman has played different, but equally important roles in harboring the truth. I love how their individual stories are so intermingled with one another.
The entire story takes place in civil rights era, New Orleans, adding real life drama to the story and with the woman spanning three generations, we get genuine insight to how the movement effected everyone so very differently.
It was the ending…that final secret uncovered, that really made this beautiful story worth reading. I was shocked at the ending, full of emotion and so glad that I was fortunate enough to have read Dollbaby. This is the rare book that I would wholeheartedly consider reading again. show less
The character development was remarkable and I came to love these women, Ibby; her grandmother Fannie; and Fannie’s two maids, Queenie and Dollbaby. These women could not be any different than they show more are, yet, they love one another in a profound way.
Fannie suffers from moments of dark depression, and it is the cause of that depression that slowly unfolds. While secrets are uncovered, we see how each woman has played different, but equally important roles in harboring the truth. I love how their individual stories are so intermingled with one another.
The entire story takes place in civil rights era, New Orleans, adding real life drama to the story and with the woman spanning three generations, we get genuine insight to how the movement effected everyone so very differently.
It was the ending…that final secret uncovered, that really made this beautiful story worth reading. I was shocked at the ending, full of emotion and so glad that I was fortunate enough to have read Dollbaby. This is the rare book that I would wholeheartedly consider reading again. show less
About a week ago, I made a list of my ten favorite reads published so far this year. Now I'm going to have to figure out which one to kick off because Laura Lane McNeal's Dollbaby definitely has to be there.
Dollbaby is set in New Orleans during the 1960s and early 1970s. It's got all the elements you'd expect from a southern novel: a big, decaying house, an eccentric matriarch, servants who have become family, racial tension, and a whole passel of family secrets. After her father's death, show more Ibby (short for Liberty) is dropped into this house to live with Fannie, a grandmother she's never met; Ibby's mother drives off to "figure her own life out."
In less capable hands, this is the sort of novel that could degenerate into melodrama quickly, but McNeal's deft, simple prose never allows that to happen. Each of the novel's secrets has its own logic, and each secret forces the characters to hold one another at a distance—but the love and loyalty among them is clear. Even when the improbable is happening, the characters come across as genuine. As a reader, I never questioned the actions in the book because I was so engaged by the individuals populating it.
This is definitely a book worth buying in hardback—or requesting from your local library this very day. Read it, spend time with its characters, ponder events and might-have-beens. It will be time well spent. show less
Dollbaby is set in New Orleans during the 1960s and early 1970s. It's got all the elements you'd expect from a southern novel: a big, decaying house, an eccentric matriarch, servants who have become family, racial tension, and a whole passel of family secrets. After her father's death, show more Ibby (short for Liberty) is dropped into this house to live with Fannie, a grandmother she's never met; Ibby's mother drives off to "figure her own life out."
In less capable hands, this is the sort of novel that could degenerate into melodrama quickly, but McNeal's deft, simple prose never allows that to happen. Each of the novel's secrets has its own logic, and each secret forces the characters to hold one another at a distance—but the love and loyalty among them is clear. Even when the improbable is happening, the characters come across as genuine. As a reader, I never questioned the actions in the book because I was so engaged by the individuals populating it.
This is definitely a book worth buying in hardback—or requesting from your local library this very day. Read it, spend time with its characters, ponder events and might-have-beens. It will be time well spent. show less
Dollbaby by Laura Lane McNeal starts with the amazing journey through the life of Ibby who moves in with her grandmother after the death of her father and being abandoned by her mother. More importantly, Dollbaby is the story of the women who touch Izzy’s life and their own personal journeys.
The character development was remarkable and I came to love these women, Ibby; her grandmother Fannie; and Fannie’s two maids, Queenie and Dollbaby. These women could not be any different than they show more are, yet, they love one another in a profound way.
Fannie suffers from moments of dark depression, and it is the cause of that depression that slowly unfolds. While secrets are uncovered, we see how each woman has played different, but equally important roles in harboring the truth. I love how their individual stories are so intermingled with one another.
The entire story takes place in civil rights era, New Orleans, adding real life drama to the story and with the woman spanning three generations, we get genuine insight to how the movement effected everyone so very differently.
It was the ending…that final secret uncovered, that really made this beautiful story worth reading. I was shocked at the ending, full of emotion and so glad that I was fortunate enough to have read Dollbaby. This is the rare book that I would wholeheartedly consider reading again. show less
The character development was remarkable and I came to love these women, Ibby; her grandmother Fannie; and Fannie’s two maids, Queenie and Dollbaby. These women could not be any different than they show more are, yet, they love one another in a profound way.
Fannie suffers from moments of dark depression, and it is the cause of that depression that slowly unfolds. While secrets are uncovered, we see how each woman has played different, but equally important roles in harboring the truth. I love how their individual stories are so intermingled with one another.
The entire story takes place in civil rights era, New Orleans, adding real life drama to the story and with the woman spanning three generations, we get genuine insight to how the movement effected everyone so very differently.
It was the ending…that final secret uncovered, that really made this beautiful story worth reading. I was shocked at the ending, full of emotion and so glad that I was fortunate enough to have read Dollbaby. This is the rare book that I would wholeheartedly consider reading again. show less
An rich and atmospheric tale of a young girl left to live with her grandmother in 1960s New Orleans. Ibby struggles to understand the strictly stratified world she has entered, in which black and white people are kept separate, but the black servants in her grandmother's house also behave as much like family as servants. I really enjoyed this book and appreciated how well it invoked the atmosphere and culture of New Orleans, but also how it portrayed both black and white characters with a show more range of personalities and motivations. show less
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- Members
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- Popularity
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- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 43
- ISBNs
- 8
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