October 2011 Read: Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

We will start the discussion of Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! by Fannie Flagg on October 10, 2011!

Come one, come all!

I really liked most of the first 4/5 of the book - Dena's rise in the industry, and the comparisons with her Missouri cousins. However, I found the end really frustrating.

***SPOILERS***
Irritating things:
1) The relationship with the shrink, Gerry. I didn't find that believable for even a second. I don't really like books/movies/etc where the male love interest pulls the most ridiculous stunts, ones that in real life would probably scare the female love interest, and this seems to work. She doesn't know anything about him, besides that he is a creepy obsessed psychiatrist. He doesn't know anything about her, besides that she is gorgeous and damaged. (Ok, maybe that is a little bit believable). Then they fall in love in like a page, have fantastic sex, get married, and live in the country? Okey-doky.
2) Dena's mother's fate. I admit that I was surprised by Dena's mother's secret, but I guess I was expecting something a little more exciting (like a spy).

On the upside, I loved the Kappa friend, and the Missouri cousins, and the whole little town, and neighbor Dorothy.

So what did you all think?

I think my favorite part was Dena's mother's story. I also started off thinking she must have been a spy, or closely associated with one. Or maybe just a Nazi. But I liked how it turned out - even though it really took us away from Dena's story for a very long time, it seemed. I liked that she gave us several hints about this, but I wasn't sharp enough to make sense of them in time.

I didn't like the sorority sister at first, but she grew on me.

Waiting to hear more reactions to Gerry - I liked him but your comments are right - Dena didn't know him as well as we did, so how could she like him?

This was my first Fannie Flagg book and I expected to really not like it. What a surprise to love the book and end up racing through it - I finished it about 2 weeks ago!

I read this book in 2002. I went back to my handwritten archives before LT and discovered that I had merely written a summary of the book ending with the comment: "Sheesh, get real!" after the part about Dena and Gerry so it looks like I agree with Jennifer about the denouement.

I only gave the book 3 stars, but I didn't rate my books before LT and had to go on my memory of the book. Now, I wish I'd read it again so I could add more to the discussion. I'll do better next time!

Sandy, I like Fannie Flagg as an author of feel-good books. When I did my major purge of books earlier this year, I couldn't give up Fried Green Tomatoes and Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man.

Fried Green Tomatoes is absolutely wonderful. I really did like this one, up until the last 50 pages or so. Maybe she tried to tie up too many loose ends for me, I don't know. I do want to move to a place with a front porch, though.

I didn't pick up on any of the hints about Dena's mom. I was like "oh! She was a Nazi spy! Oh! She was a Jewish refugee! Oh! She was a... passing black woman? Wait, what?"

#5 The first clue I really took note of was that her father was at Howard University - I'm sure I missed some before that. But I didn't put everything together in time.

I just finished the book and came over to see what all of you thought. I definitely enjoyed it. It was a comfort read for me - one of those book that just pulls me along and doesn't require too much thinking. I had a cold this past week, so the timing was perfect.

But I agree that the revelation about Dena's mom took me by surprise. I wish there had been a few more clues (although they may have been there, and I just missed them). If Flagg had let us in on the secret before Dena found out, she could have provided parts of Dena's family's story as we went along rather than having all of that at the end. I was glad that Dena found the note from her mother and realized that she had intended to come back to Chicago. The scene of Dena waiting for her mother at Christmas time about brought me to tears.

I also didn't feel like Dena needed to marry Gerry to wrap the story up. I would have been just as satisfied (perhaps, more satisfied) with the ending if she had just felt more comfortable with her story and settled down alone. Maybe because Gerry felt like a stereotypical psychiatrist/lovesick guy, I just didn't warm up to him.

Although Sookie was another stereotypical character (southern sorority girl), and I liked her quite a lot! And I loved the chapters when Norma was talking to Macky too. There were some laugh-out-loud funny lines!

>7 porch_reader:: A comfort read is always in order when we're not feeling the best. I hope your cold is better, Amy. Good insights on the book.

I noticed that Jennifer has a hot review for Baby Girl. Thumbs up from me for the city mouse/country mouse angle. Spot on!

Holy crap. Really? I've never had one of those before.

Nice review, Jennifer! I agree that the beginning of the book was much better than the ending. The book seemed a little long to me. There were so many events that I thought were going to bring Dena to her senses, but each time, she just kept moving along in the same direction. Perhaps that was intentional (showing how long it takes people to realize that a change is needed). But it went on for several years, and then all of a sudden, bang! Secrets were revealed. Lives were changed. End of story.

One other thing that I realized as I was writing my comments about the book was how nicely Neighbor Dorothy's approach to the news contrasted with the tabloid tactics of the news directors that Dena worked for. Here's Neighbor Dorothy collecting money to get a seeing eye dog for Bernice (was that her name?). In contrast, Dena's boss and his shady friend were digging up dirt that ruined careers. The tabloid tactics were pretty clear (not a lot of subtlety there), but having Neighbor Dorothy as a contrast was a nice touch.

I found the book disappointing. I also thought it was over long, and I just couldn't get into the romance. I mean, what's the difference between him and all the other men who fell in love with Dena at first sight? I just didn't get it. The part about her mother passing was interesting, in that you don't find that in many stories. But I did think it was a bit of a stretch.

Good comment about the contrast between Neighbor Dorothy and the tabloid tactics. I caught that too, and also thought it was a nice touch!

Terri - I agree that the part about Dena's mom passing was interesting. I'd like to read another book where that is more of a focus. (Does anyone know of any?) But the Gerry romance was pretty far-fetched. I'm not sure what attracted her to him - other than that he wasn't famous and was willing to move to Missouri.

By the way, what a great pic on your profile. Those are some cute kiddos!

I totally didn't catch the Neighbor Dorothy:tabloid contrast, although now that I think about it you're absolutely right and that does add a nice dimension to the story. I loved the prologue w/ Neighbor Dorothy and all the rest of the small-town scenes. Fannie Flagg does a fantastic job depicting small-town life, in both books of hers that I have read.

Thanks, Amy--those are my grandkids. I'm pretty proud of them! You've got a sweetie in your pic as well!

The only other "passing" book I know of is Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain, and it's not really the same situation. And, of course, the movie "Imitation of Life." I'd like to know also if there are any books about that subject that deal with it a little more seriously.

I read this book earlier this year. All of my notes for it are in my laptop, which DH is in the process of gutting. He's having to install a new hard drive or something. Oh woe, since that laptop is my brain. I thought he would have this done last weekend, but he's been really busy. So I apologize for not weighing in here on the discussion, since I think the orginal recommendation came from me. I hugely enjoyed all three of these books, reading them straight through one after another. Different strokes for different folks. The other books that include some of the same characters are Standing in the Rainbow and Can't Wait to Get to Heaven--don't know why the touchstone isn't working.