“The most powerful and also the most lyrical novel about race, racism, and denial in the American South since To Kill a Mockingbird.” — Lee Smith, author of On Agate Hill “Exquisitely beautiful… The novel grips the reader from its first page and relentlessly drives us to its conclusion.” — William Ferris, author of Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues An atmospheric debut … Mississippi Blues
An atmospheric debut novel about growing up in the changing South in 1960s Mississippi in the tradition of Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees and Kathryn Stockett’s The Help. In the words of Jill McCorkle (Going Away Shoes), “Minrose Gwin is an extremely gifted writer and The Queen of Palmyra is a brilliant and compelling novel.”
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Too wordy
This was interesting , but not one of my favorites.
This book is a plodding read, mirroring the story of Flo. Horrible histories abound: racism, child abuse, marital discord, fear, death, … it’s all here. And yet Flo survives … Sometimes just barely, but she is not unscathed. Makes my heart break.
I loved this book. It had me remembering how awful it was in the south before the Civil Rights movement. Most people think it was just wrong the way black people were treated. It was wrong but the whole southern society was sick and suffering. The white women and children of the southern men suffered under the rules of segregation. Our suffering …
What insight in real life during that terribly dark time in our history! So well written!!
I thought it was a very engaging story.
Not as good as I thought it would be. Way to wordy without saying anything
I enjoyed this book and I would recommend it. I grew up at the same time as this character, although not in a small town, but in the South. Certainly no one in my family was in the KKK, but it was still the deep South in the 1960s.
At first I felt very much about the main character the way I did when I was reading “Where the Crawdads Sing”: how …
The writing is excellent. Reminds me a lot of To kill a mocking bird. It is that good. Highly recommend.
If you love reading a book that takes you back to a certain pivotal point in time and makes you feel that you were not only there but were impacted by what happens, then this book is for you. I, too, came of age during these moments of history. These are the times when I stopped being blind to abhorrent things because they had ALWAYS been that …
I loved this book-a terrific read
This book struck true on the south and it’s horrible crimes against black Americans. This was a page-turner and well written. I became immersed in flo’s life and felt so bad for her at times, but she had some spirit !!
Fantastic read. Unforgetable characters.
Lyrical word craft.
This is a great book . I highly recommend it.
Loved the quirky characters and the way the daughter realizes who her father really is. Great depiction of life in 1950’s South.
In Need of A Sixth Star
A five star review seems a touch inadequate for this work and I am not sure a sixth would measure up either. Following an innocent child into a dark story of the 1960s Mississippi, the narration is colorful and poignant as she tells the story of her childhood during the turmoil of school desegregation and the onset of the …
Difficult subject matter but more readable than The Help.
I really liked this book. It was sad remembering how things used to be. I’m so thankful things are better now. Far from perfect but better.
This story takes you into the mind of a young girl being raised in the Jim Crow south, complete with all its crazy contradictions. She loves her father, but he is involved in “something” that she doesn’t understand. He’s a racist pig, but when he needs child care, he runs right over to the black side of town and leaves his daughter with a local …