Loblolly

The story of two orphans from New York city, who go to live with their grandmother in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1932. The grandmother has disowned their father.

This book had an awkward beginning, the children who are trying to fit into what they have read about "southern" culture, are quite rude to the black chauffer/servant who comes to pick them up at the train station. He sets them straight, but some of the dialog and comments make for cringe-worthy reading at this time. After that, it isn't any worse than other books written in that time about the earlier times in the south. In fact, I would say that it is better than most.

Gilbreth is masterful at forming characters, and each character in this tale is fully formed. The great show more uncle is a charmer and eccentric, the grandmother formidable and somewhat pitiful for all her bluster. The narrator, a twelve year old boy (actually him as an adult remembering, but told from the twelve year old's perspective), is witty and compassionate. His sister is an interesting mix of adolescent and a young woman who has practically raised her brother. By the end of the book, I found it hard to leave the family, and wondering if the author wrote a sequel. Apparently, he did not. show less

This is the story of two northern orphans sent down to live with their grandmother and uncle in Charleston, SC. From their first disastrous encounters with the servants, very not-PC, to their profitable discovery of their own heritage, it's an exciting adventure for these two. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected after the first chapter which started a little slow and a little stiffly, but once Gilbreth gets into a groove it becomes a humorous episodic tale with just a touch of family sentimentality.