Ooooh ... Candy! The Sugar Queen
Sarah Addison Allen
Bantam
When I saw this book at the grocery store (yes, the grocery store!) I knew that I had to have it. I was getting ready to go up to my girlfriend's cottage for the weekend and I usually take at least a couple of books as, uh, well, cover. (It is so much easier being a little bit anti-social when you have a book to help you hide.) Anyway, as soon as I read the blurb on the back, I absolutely knew it was going to end up in my cart. Magic realism and a candy addicted, winter-loving heroine?! Whoa! How could I resist?
Josey is southern belle trapped in a bad situation. Her father, an incorrigible philanderer, passed away when she was nine and left her with a mother who didn't really love her. Bound by duty, Josey sticks it out at home yearning for an acceptance that she'll never receive. Her one joy (aside from the daily sightings of the gorgeously delicious mailman) is the secret stash of candy and travel magazines that she has hidden in her closet. One day, she's opens the door to access her cache and finds herself face-to-face with Della Lee -- a skankily beautiful, down-on-her-luck kind of girl who is a sometimes waitress, sometimes prostitute in the little town in which they both live. Della blackmails Josey into letting her stay and the story that develops out of this relationship becomes the basis for the entire novel.
Love, relationships, self-confidence, facing your fears, -- there isn't much that The Sugar Queen doesn't tackle and it is all handled with a dash of southern grace and charm. This novel is definitely a bildungsroman with a peppermint twist and I would encourage any fan of the "chick lit" genre to give it a whirl. Three tasty lemon drops out of five.
Sarah Addison Allen
Bantam
When I saw this book at the grocery store (yes, the grocery store!) I knew that I had to have it. I was getting ready to go up to my girlfriend's cottage for the weekend and I usually take at least a couple of books as, uh, well, cover. (It is so much easier being a little bit anti-social when you have a book to help you hide.) Anyway, as soon as I read the blurb on the back, I absolutely knew it was going to end up in my cart. Magic realism and a candy addicted, winter-loving heroine?! Whoa! How could I resist?
Josey is southern belle trapped in a bad situation. Her father, an incorrigible philanderer, passed away when she was nine and left her with a mother who didn't really love her. Bound by duty, Josey sticks it out at home yearning for an acceptance that she'll never receive. Her one joy (aside from the daily sightings of the gorgeously delicious mailman) is the secret stash of candy and travel magazines that she has hidden in her closet. One day, she's opens the door to access her cache and finds herself face-to-face with Della Lee -- a skankily beautiful, down-on-her-luck kind of girl who is a sometimes waitress, sometimes prostitute in the little town in which they both live. Della blackmails Josey into letting her stay and the story that develops out of this relationship becomes the basis for the entire novel.
Love, relationships, self-confidence, facing your fears, -- there isn't much that The Sugar Queen doesn't tackle and it is all handled with a dash of southern grace and charm. This novel is definitely a bildungsroman with a peppermint twist and I would encourage any fan of the "chick lit" genre to give it a whirl. Three tasty lemon drops out of five.
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