By: Joshilyn Jackson With the first line, Joshilyn Jackson sends her readers leaping into a world of promises kept and secrets hidden. Her debut novel, gods in Alabama, is another push on the lines defining the sometimes-maligned "Chick Lit", proving more than ever that classification is more for marketing than literary convention. Arlene Fleet, a southern white girl self-exiled to Chicago, has rebuilt her life around promises made in exchange for her past remaining hidden. Even though she told no lies, never returned to Alabama, and quit having sex with every man she met, her past came back to meet her in the form of Rose Mae Lolley. Determined to keep the ghost of a dead boy from coming back to haunt her - or land her in prison - Arlene, with her black boyfriend in tow, returns to Possett, Alabama. Through a series of flashbacks, Arlene's story weaves around the truth, giving the reader a swerving ride through a dark side of life in the South. Just when it seems all is lost, and that Arlene's world will come crashing down about her ears, another curve awaits. Arlene's family - like her Aunt Florence who takes to calling her a serpent - is intricately described as at best eccentric, at worst absolutely insane. Although many readers will suspect the conclusion a few chapters before the end, there is an irresistible urge to find out exactly how Jackson leaves Arlene. In spite of the somewhat predictable ending, Jackson's work is definitely a page-turner that will be credited with many lost nights' sleep. Readers will be satisfied with gods in Alabama, but not for long. Joshilyn Jackson will be an author to watch in the future. |
By: Martha O'Connor "Say it aloud: Screw fairy tales and chick lit and all forms of lying." That line lies toward the end of Martha O'Connor's "Consumer Product Information" list at the beginning of The Bitch Posse, and if there is a single sentence capable of being a summation of the book, that is it. From 1988 to 2003, readers are thrown through the lives of the members of the bitch posse - three best friends whose tempest-tossed lives would be understated if described as misadventures. First there is Rennie, the author and teacher still caught in the self-destructive rut she'd been in high school. Cherry is the mentally unbalanced, possibly criminally insane girl who is a poster child for why parents should be parents, and not try to be friends with their children. The housewife, Amy, has the less than perfect life that leaves her dwelling on the past with the posse. O'Connor alludes to the deep dark secret that ripped apart the seemingly inseparable Rennie, Cherry and Amy, but the reader can only suspect, not know, before reading it. Because of the shifts in time throughout, one receives a roller coaster ride through the lives of the bitch posse members. Flying in the face of the stereotypical label chick lit, O'Connor offers readers three life-like characters devoid of saccharin façade. Anything but formulaic, The Bitch Posse breaks ground formerly held by alternative independent presses, thrusting mainstream presses into the realm of realistic fiction for and about women. The Bitch Posse lives up to the disclaimers - even the tongue in cheek ones - and decidedly makes O'Connor a voice to watch. |