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- General fiction - |
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Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind |
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 Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind byAnn B. Ross William Morrow 273 pages, 1999 ISBN 0688167888 Reviewed by Julie Failla Earhart I seldom laugh out loud at a book, but Ann B. Ross’s Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind spoke to my funny bone. Julia Springer, recent widow of the dearly departed Wesley Lloyd Springer, is a boisterously entertaining rendition of Southern docility and gentility (in the manner of Miss Daisy from Driving Miss Daisy), with a healthy dose of Gloria Steinhem thrown in for good measure. A fine, upstanding citizen of Abbottsville and a generous member of the First Presbyterian Church, Miss Julia is about to discover that people - especially the fine, Christian, upstanding Wesley Lloyd -and life are never what they appear to be. On a hot August afternoon, Miss Julia answers the door to find a beaten young woman and a puny little boy standing on her porch. The young woman thrusts the nine-year-old forward and begs her to take care of him, the fruit of Wesley Lloyd’s loin. It’s apparent from the child’s uncanny resemblance to Wesley Lloyd that the young woman is telling the truth. The young woman leaves before Miss Julia can get over her shock. Never having been blessed with a child, Miss Julia doesn’t know what to do with Junior, whom she renames "Little Lloyd." But she’s a Christian and together with her housekeeper Lillian, they agree to make do until his mother returns. Miss Julia proudly carts Little Lloyd around town - a small Southern town where everyone except Miss Julia knows about Wesley Lloyd’s indiscretion. But when the child becomes a pawn between his great-uncle Vern and Wesley Lloyd’s estate, all hell breaks loose. Little Lloyd’s mother, Hazel Marie, is the victim of a severe beating and winds up on the Springer doorstep. When Miss Julia discovers that Vern has stolen Little Lloyd, she sets off to get him back along with Lillian and Hazel. It isn't just Vern who is after Wesley Lloyd’s wealth. Pastor Ledbetter brings in a psychiatrist disguised as a new member of the church, in the hopes of declaring the elderly woman incompetent so that the First Presbyterian Church can gain control of her money. If fall weather brings on melancholy, Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind is sure to get you smiling again. |
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