Quite A Year For Plums
Bailey White (Adult Fiction)
Roger is in love with a Yankee (although some of those people are just as nice as can be). Louise arranges letters and numbers so that she can contact space aliens (who are really small by the way). Della is having a devil of a time painting Dominique chickens (capturing their feet correctly is the hardest part) and has a penchant for labeling her garbage. And then there’s Bruce who has nightmares about fonts (he’s a typographer and takes these things very seriously). These and many more wonderfully odd characters live in a small southern town, and they laugh, love, and cry together…because that is what families do.
In the vein of Philip Gulley, Jan Karon, and Ann B. Ross, Bailey White gives us a humorous and heartfelt glimpse into rural America. In White’s world, the boy doesn’t always get the girl and even the best intentions end in defeat, but she shows us that anything can be made just a little bit brighter and sweeter with just a jar of sweet pickles or a slice of homemade plum pie.
I adore Bailey White, but this novel came up a little short as I had a hard time sinking my teeth into it. Rather than getting a rich and satisfying entrée, I was instead served several courses of appetizers. White gives the reader many humorous and delightful vignettes, but when put together, they fail to form a complete and cohesive story. Quite A Year For Plums is a quick read that doesn’t require a tremendous amount of emotional investment, but its quirky and lovable characters do make for an enjoyable book. Almost as enjoyable as a jar of sweet pickles or a slice of homemade plum pie. Almost.
Rating: 3/5
* Book cover image attributed to http://www.amazon.com
The Dusty Jacket 