Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns is a 1984 Mariner Books publication.

Occasionally, this book will pop up on my radar and I’ve always been curious about it. It sounds like a sort of like a folksy southern family drama, which is something I tend to enjoy most of the time. The book generally continues to garner positive ratings, though I had noticed a few more recent reviews mentioned some issues with race and classism in the book.

As with any book published this far back, one is faced with the possibility- if not the probability- of encountering those issues. So, I decided that now was just as good as time as any to see what has given this book the staying power it has, especially as it is the only completed novel by this author.

I ended up with some mixed feelings about the novel. I can't say I agree that it is 'timeless', due to the aforementioned issues some recent reviews mentioned. It was a conflict, that is for sure. I felt pulled in different directions while reading the book.

I can see why many people were pulled in by the drama, and the 'folksy' charm, the coming of age elements, and the shocking revelations that come late in the story. There are some hilarious moments, some poignant moments, and it is ultimately a bittersweet, coming of age tale.

But, for me, personally, it fell flat for the most part. There are some difficult passages of abuse, animal cruelty, and even some of Will's comical shenanigans seemed a little mean spirited- then after all that, the ending wasn't exactly a happy one- but there is a suggestion of hope, so while it is sad, it also points to better times ahead for all concerned.

Overall, I have satisfied my curiosity. The story wasn't exactly what I was expecting, which can be a good thing, but maybe not so much in this instance. The story moves a bit too slow, only to have several huge developments take place all in the last quarter of the book, and the ending left me feeling a bit frustrated after having held on that long. All, that said, I've waffled about the rating. I liked parts of the book, while the rest of it was just okay....

So- 2.5 stars. It didn't have enough 'folksy charm' to round it up to a three- for me, at least.

3 somewhat reluctant stars ( )

78

Good story of a grandson who watches his grandfather marry a "skittish" younger woman (a survivor of trauma). Very memorable. ( )

Despite all the weighty happenings and judgement this story also feels light, almost as though you were living in Cold Sassy rather than turning pages anticipating the next bit of drama. I laughed, cried and caught myself talking a bit like Grandpa a couple times;)Looking forward to the sequal. ( )

3.5 stars, rounded down.

Miss Mattie Lou is dead and her husband, Rucker Blakeslee, waits only three weeks before marrying the milliner who works at his store, Miss Love Simpson. The rest of the novel deals with the repercussions of this marriage, the development of the relationships between the new bride and the family, and the way this new view of his grandfather affects his grandson, Will.

I am generally fond of coming-of-age stories, and felt the story gained something from having the young Will as narrator. However, I felt his involvement in his grandfather’s intimate life highly unlikely for this time period, so some of it was a stretch for me. I know that the kind of adult conversations he was privy to, even those overheard lurking behind doors, would never have happened in my own childhood.

I felt we were meant to admire Rucker and find him entertaining, but at times I found him very distasteful in his dealings with his family members, particularly the son-in-law, Camp, who worked at his store. What was meant to be blunt and frank, often came across to me as crass and unfeeling. Sadly, I saw some of the same behavior developing in the grandson, whose pranks failed to make me smile because there was a kind of cruelty in them.

What I enjoyed about Cold Sassy Tree was the flavor of the South as it once was that was captured here and there. I recognized the small Southern town (Commerce, Georgia was much as described even when I was young), the railroad tracks that defined so many small towns in the South, and the descriptions of the Mill Town (my aunt lived in one and even though the mill had long been closed, the houses were the same small simple cubes with four rooms that opened into one another and a bathroom at the back).

The story began well, had a period of drag for me about midway, and then scuttled along to the end. I felt a bit conflicted when I finished, because while it might have been a good story, it was sort of meaningless. I couldn’t really think of any deeper meaning or anything any of these characters had learned that would have moved them forward, including Will. For me, that is one of the things that make a coming-of-age story work, that the narrator is generally wiser and more mature at the end than in the beginning...that some event has happened that has genuinely changed his understanding of life. I did not find that to be true at the end of this novel. I felt the Will we met in the first chapter was the same Will we said goodbye to on the last page.
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