I was extremely excited to read Cold Sassy Tree. Southern fiction is one of my absolute favorite genres and certainly close to my heart since I am from the South. I didn’t know anything about the book before reading the summary. Upon reading the summary, I anticipated a heavily plot driven story about the events after Mr. Blakeslee marries Miss Simpson.The characters of Cold Sassy made the book for me, despite the fact I hated most of them. In a way, though, I think the reader was supposed to hate some of them. I felt like Mrs. Tweedy and Loma weren’t extremely developed, though I wouldn’t have liked them much more if they were. The dislike is not due to bad writing, it’s just the type of characters they are. Essentially, they are pretty much just like the rest of traditional, gossipy Cold Sassy, we are just supposed to feel more sympathy for them because they are related to the narrator. Personally, I didn’t feel much for either of them.Miss Love, Will, and Grandpa stole the novel for me. Will irritated me to no end at many points in the story, but being a fourteen year old boy that doesn’t surprise me. He’s a bit hypocritical and makes some terrible awful choices, but I think in the end he has a good heart. Despite his made up stories and wishy washy opinions, I still felt for him and enjoyed reading him as a narrator. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t say much other than I think Miss Love is great. She’s a solid character and a feisty one too. She was easily the best character in the novel for me.The rest of the cast was great too. Aside from Loma and Mrs. Tweedy, I felt even the minor characters, like Hosie, were developed and really made me care for them which is why I stuck it out to the end.The plot was the most disappointing part of the novel for me. I had expected a whirlwind of events and scandals, but really not much happened in the book. I mean, sure, a few big events happened, but they weren’t played out at all. Something major would happen every 75 to 90 pages, the characters would react for a few paragraphs, and then everything would go right back to normal in the next chapter. Even the events that completely turned a character’s life upside down weren’t really described much. I felt like a few of the big events and reveals were unnecessary. They did nothing for the plot and were completely disregarded/barely mentioned for the rest of the novel. The few things that did happen that seemed to have a purpose still didn’t have much attention. The plot of this book is basically Will Tweedy eavesdropping on Miss Love and Mr. Blakeslee, not telling anyone what they said, and making up outlandish stories about Loma. That’s it. The other major “plot points” are hardly commented on by Will Tweedy. Maybe that’s what the author was going for, since he is a naïve, young narrator, but I just didn’t like it. The book moved slow and if it wasn’t for a few of my favorite characters it would have been much harder to finish.The writing in the book fell short for me. There were some truly beautiful passages about love, loss, and even religion. However, the author’s use of foreshadowing was awful, overdone, and melodramatic. Nearly every chapter ended in some sort of variation of “but then everything would change.” Personally, I don’t care how much or how little foreshadowing an author uses, but at least use it subtly. Some of the chapters would be so captivating and interesting that I didn’t want to stop, but those lines of obvious foreshadowing always brought me back to reality with a sharp eye roll. The chapters were also very strange. I’m one of those readers who likes for a chapter to represent a whole scene, plot point, or message. I’m not picky on length or even that the lengths match throughout the book, but it truly irks me when chapters end abruptly and then pick right back up at the same place. That coupled with the awful foreshadowing is probably the reason the novel didn’t get more than three stars. When a chapter ends suddenly and with a bold statement of foreshadowing then proceeds to pick back up right where the other chapter left off, it really draws back my focus. Like chapters eleven and twelve. They are literally the same event, the author just decides to end chapter eleven with some sort of bold statement and then on the next page continue the events of the story. Maybe I’m just being picky, but examples like that are what really took away from the story for me.The southern dialect was a bit heavy handed. I’m from the south; believe me when I say I have family who speak exactly like the characters of the novel. It was still hard for me to understand at times, but it wasn’t terrible. There ended up being just a few sentences I had to reread a few times.Despite all my complaints, I really did find a lot of the writing to be very lively and emotional. Some of the more intimate moments between Grandpa and Miss Love were touching, even bringing a tear to my eye. I thought the author did fantastic with giving the reader a small southern town feel. The descriptions of the town and the time period were vivid. There were times when I could really picture the town and people of Cold Sassy.Overall, I was rather disappointed in this book. It didn’t live up to my expectations. I had really hoped for a very exciting story with a lot of town gossip, witty characters, and unpredictable events. Still, I was satisfied with what I got. What Cold Sassy Tree lacks in action it almost makes up for with its charm. The characters I did like, the descriptions, and the heartfelt moments made this book still worth reading.TLDR: Pros: Great portrayal of old, southern townsInteresting charactersCharmingSome scenes will really stick with meCons: Terrible, melodramatic foreshadowing Odd chapter formatHeavy southern dialectRecommend: For people who enjoy character driven stories, stories with religion as part of the theme, and fans of southern fiction.
3.5 stars. I really liked this book, but I found it much easier to listen to this book than to read it. I grew up in the south, but I still had a hard time with the vernacular as it was written in this book. The 'should/would/could of' ones got me the most, more than 'terreckly' in place of 'directly', 'cain't' in place of 'can't' etc, because I kept thinking it sounds exactly the same if you write 'could've', etc, so why purposefully write it wrong? Listening to it was much less distracting. I really loved the characters in this story, which is a good thing, because this is such a character driven story that lacking amazing characters, there would be no story to tell. The story is these characters' lives; their faith and their deaths and their scandals and their everyday. My favorite character was Grandpa Blakeslee. I loved his take on life. I loved his take on faith and loyalty and life in general. He was just such a refreshing character to meet, one who had such a realistic and "homegrown" faith and relationship with his God. I loved his take on faith, that it is not a guarantee or reward, but rather a way of life.I really liked Will Tweedy as a narrator. I liked that he was young and in the thick of things because he was at that middling age where one is almost adult but still considered a child when it comes to adult issues, so he was privy to a lot of things that he maybe shouldn't have been, but his interpretation of those things was nothing if not interesting. The foreshadowing was a little heavy handed, but it served its purpose, and in a novel as gossipy as this one, it worked pretty well.I would have liked for a few of the social issues, like prejudice and racial segregation and women's rights to be addressed more fully... all were touched upon, but none really explored at all. Overall, I really liked the book. I think that Grandpa Blakeslee will stick with me for a while after reading this one. He's just one of those characters that imprint a part of themselves on everyone who meets them.
What do You think about Cold Sassy Tree (2005)?
Fantastic characters and a good plot. I loved the setting, the old South, the gossipy small town and the funny, quircky, but very believable people. This is an excellent picture of life at the turn of the century, including the advent of the automobile, electric lights and indoor plumbing. It's also an interesting coming-of-age tale told by a 14-year-old boy. This book is excellent. I was just a little surprised by the dark turn it takes toward the end. Primarily because my kids had enjoyed listening to so much of it in the car (an audio book), but as the story progressed I found myself unwilling to let them listen to the last few chapters. That criticism is hardly relevant for most adult readers--this book is not marketed for kids, and it's actually quite tame. It's no "Beloved," and hardly even a "Sula" or "the Color Purple." It's a great southern tale in a context that is vividly pictured, vividly alive. But the book started out in Mayberry and began to drift elsewhere toward the end. The result is not unrealistic. Maybe that's even the point of a coming-of-age tale, or an initiation-maturation plot: the hero does lose some innocence, perhaps, seeing things he'd not known before. Anyway, GREAT BOOK.
—Steven
My grandmother's favorite book of all time, so I have always wanted to read it. This is such a great book. It nearly ripped my heart out for making me think of my Grandmother. It is about a 14 year old boy in 1906 Cold Sassy, Georgia. The book centers on Will Tweedy's relationship with his grandfather and the small town scandal that begins when his grandfather remarries a young woman two weeks after his wife's passing. The narrative is so witty and touching and it is written in such a strong southern dialect that I found myself thing in terms of "dern it" and "I reckon"! I cried for the last 50 pages and wanted my Grandmother to be here to hug me and tell me she loved me at the end.
—Megan
I liked this book for a couple of reasons but first - I gave it only 4 stars because I had a hard time with the southern writing (trying to do the accent), it was a little distracting for me.What I did like was some of the religious views taught - what might Jesus mean by 'ask and ye shall receive', the view of death and mourning. It made me look a little more at myself and see which character I fit - the gossips of the town, the drama queen mother, the one willing to press forward cheerfully not matter how others treat me . . . it was good reflection. It was also a great book to read before bed to take my mind off my own world of family, business, church and let it all go so that I could sleep better at night.
—Kimber
