This disarming first novel from award-winning author Lee Smith vibrantly displays the remarkable talent that led her to become one of America's most popular fiction writers. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, it evokes the hot summer nights of childhood's lost innocence. Nine-year-old Susan has the whole glorious, carefree summer ahead of her. Sometimes she worries that her mother and father aren't happy together, but from her vantage point under the dogbushes, the world is safe and wonderful. Her life begins to change when her friends introduce her to the creepy new city kid, Eugene, who's come to spend the summer. Eugene holds a strange power over the group, a power that Susan feels most profoundly on the night she is forced to play "doctor." Although it has its dark moments, this lyrical, compassionate novel strikes a nostalgic chord in everyone. Narrator Christina Moore is superbly convincing as the character of a young girl facing disillusionment, divorce, and even rape as she comes to terms with a world that can often be cruel.
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"Begins as an innocent book about a young girl growing up in the south. Subtly the author weaves in undertones about the complications of family relationships and growing up. Very disturbing innuedos regarding the summer guest of the neighbor. " — Heather (4 out of 5 stars)
"Begins as an innocent book about a young girl growing up in the south. Subtly the author weaves in undertones about the complications of family relationships and growing up. Very disturbing innuedos regarding the summer guest of the neighbor. "
" Begins as an innocent book about a young girl growing up in the south. Subtly the author weaves in undertones about the complications of family relationships and growing up. Very disturbing innuedos regarding the summer guest of the neighbor. "
" this is the book that got me into Lee Smith. I havent read it in a long time, and seeing the title makes me want to read it again. "
" This well-written book is told from the point of view of a troubled, helpess nine year old. The conclusion is realistic,brutal and disheartening. "
Lee Smith is a New York Times bestselling novelist. She has written numerous novels and short story collections, including Saving Grace, Fair and Tender Ladies, and a novella, The Christmas Letters. Her novel The Last Girls won the Southern Book Critics Circle Award and the North Carolina Award for Literature; two of her short story collections also won the O. Henry Award. Smith currently lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina.
Christina Moore is an actress and Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator. As an actress, she is best known for her roles in the television series That ’70s Show, Hawthorne, and 90210. She is a founding member of Bitches Funny, an all-female sketch group that has performed in New York City and Los Angeles.
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