Charms for the Easy Life
- Book Review,
by Kaye Gibbons
From Publishers Weekly
Begining with her debut novel, Ellen Foster , Gibbons' work has been heartwarming and addictively readable. In this, her fourth novel, she creates a touching picture of female bonding and solidarity. Related with the simple, tart economy of a folktale, the narrative brims with wisdom and superstition, with Southern manners and insights into human nature. Like the heroines of Gibbons's previous novels, indomitable country doctor Charlie Kate and her daughter, Sophia, have been disappointed by men. Supported by Charlie Kate's homeopathic medical practice, which she pursues without the benefit of a degree but with the respect of the community of Raleigh, N.C., they live with Margaret, Sophia's daughter (the novel's narrator), in a relatively harmonious if decidedly eccentric household. All are feminists before the word was coined; all are avid readers ("When a good book was in the house, the place fairly vibrated") and all are capable of defying conventions when urgency dictates. Gibbons' picture of the South during the Depression and WW II is satisfyingly full of period references. But her triumph is the character of Charlie Kate: strong-minded, arbitrary and opinionated, a crusader for the underdog, and the grumpy but benign ruler of her offspring's lives. Though at times she veers dangerously toward the saccharine, Gibson rescues the fairy-tale ending with a bittersweet twist, having solidly orchestrated its inevitability. Author tour. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Like its predecessors, Ellen Foster ( LJ 4/15/87), A Virtuous Woman ( LJ 4/1/89), and A Cure for Dreams ( LJ 2/15/91), this new novel depicts three generations of Southern women living together during World War II. Unworthy men marry into this formidable tribe, but they cannot break the women's circle of strength and grace. Margaret, the narrator, gently and humorously regales readers with the adventures of her grandmother, Charlie Kate, as a respectable yet unlicensed physician. Without losing her rural sensibility, Gibbons moves from her previous country settings to Raleigh, the capital of her native North Carolina. Her characters remain quirky without being quaint. Recommended for most libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/92.- Faye A. Chadwell, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., ColumbiaCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
Narrator Kate Fleming introduces us to three curious women from the backwoods of North Carolina. Folk healer Charlie Kate; her daughter, Sophia; and granddaughter, Margaret, share the stories of their lives together from the turn of the century through the 1940s. Fleming voices the soulful humor and gumption of these free-thinking, strong-will women. This is a story of mother/daughter relationships, love, daring, and persevering in a time and place when resourcefulness was a necessity. B.J.L. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
From Kirkus Reviews
Gibbons's fourth novel, inspired by WPA oral histories, lacks the subtlety and charm of her previous books (A Cure for Dreams, A Virtuous Woman, Ellen Foster). As a tribute to no-nonsense southern feminism, it risks stridency and strains belief. This fictional memoir of the narrator's most remarkable grandmother celebrates a freethinking, strong-willed woman who has little use for most men. Charlie (Clarissa) Kate Birch is a turn- of-the-century midwife whose medical acumen makes her a legend in North Carolina well into the 20th century. Unschooled but a voracious reader, Charlie Kate works her miracles at everything except her own marriage. Her husband heads for the hills soon after the birth of Sophia, who later takes after her mother by marrying a faithless cad, one rewarded with an early death. Sophia's daughter Margaret, the narrator, chronicles the shared lives of these three women as they experience in relative comfort the 30's and 40's. They're self-sufficient, well-read, and cynical in matters of faith and sex. They're equally contemptuous of the idle rich and the vulgar poor. As Charlie Kate's assistants, Sophia and Margaret are exposed to a full range of human frailties and oddities. A real can-do family, these women display remarkably good taste for their times, disparaging Gone With the Wind while venerating ``Mr. Faulkner.'' Something of a prig, Margaret doesn't hesitate to lecture illiterates and humiliate lusty boys. Her virtue is well rewarded when she meets the smart, handsome, and rich Tom Hawkings, who falls head over heels for this kindred spirit. Meanwhile, Sophia remarries well, and the great and aging matriarch can die in peace. A fairy tale of the South that embodies the values it celebrates: frugality, rectitude, and common sense. In other words, boring and self-righteous. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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