Review
2.5 / 3 stars
For the most part, Fannie Flagg's books follow a certain formula. Typically one major protagonist is a middle-aged woman experiencing some kind of upheaval (marital, emotional, familial) and one supporting player is an elderly woman who is either a lovable, eccentric hoot or a cranky 'looney toon'. Various head-shaking husbands and odd neighbors/children fill out the cast.
The story will shift between the present and the past (about 50 or so years) and you'll read the entire book wondering how the two stories connect, and when you think you have the answer you don't. Toward the end there's a curve ball you didn't see coming, and most conflicts are resolved by the end. That's pretty much what you'll find here.
What I like about Fannie Flagg is she comes up with some awesome story concepts - this one covers a buried part of American history during WWII, about female pilots. Her execution, however, isn't always on the mark. The bulk of this book telling over showing, and you have to climb a rather large info-dump in the first chapter. Once you crest that, though, there's much to enjoy in the story.
For the most part, Fannie Flagg's books follow a certain formula. Typically one major protagonist is a middle-aged woman experiencing some kind of upheaval (marital, emotional, familial) and one supporting player is an elderly woman who is either a lovable, eccentric hoot or a cranky 'looney toon'. Various head-shaking husbands and odd neighbors/children fill out the cast.
The story will shift between the present and the past (about 50 or so years) and you'll read the entire book wondering how the two stories connect, and when you think you have the answer you don't. Toward the end there's a curve ball you didn't see coming, and most conflicts are resolved by the end. That's pretty much what you'll find here.
What I like about Fannie Flagg is she comes up with some awesome story concepts - this one covers a buried part of American history during WWII, about female pilots. Her execution, however, isn't always on the mark. The bulk of this book telling over showing, and you have to climb a rather large info-dump in the first chapter. Once you crest that, though, there's much to enjoy in the story.
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