[READ: Summer 2021] The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires
I loved the name of this book. The fact that it was put out by Quirk Books was a major plus.
This book was read by Bahni Turpin and she was magnificent. I was hooked right from the start. I loved her Southern accents and the way she made each character unique and easily recognizable.
In the preface to the book, Hendrix explains that this novel is a kind of apology for his earlier novel My Best Friend’s Exorcism. In that novel teenagers were the protagonists and parents were cast as trouble for them. He felt the need to address the concerns of the parents this time around.
I love the way the characters clearly love their children but are also realistic about them: “Being a teenager isn’t a number,” says Maryellen. “It’s the age when you stop liking them.”
The story opens in a hilarious way.
It’s 1988 and Grace Cavanaugh had started a book club, She wanted all of the women in her circle to read the classics. This month’s book was Cry, The Beloved Country. Grace was the quintessential Southern woman. Her house was perfect. Her thick pile carpets were white and immaculate (the way she inwardly cringes as cheese straws land on the carpet is hilarious). She did not allow for anything improper. She expected people to do what was proper. Like finish the book club book.
The story zooms in on Patricia Campbell. She needed the book club, But she did not read the book.
She was given twenty minutes to talk about the book. And the way she tries to stretch it out is hilarious. Eventually Grace calls her out on it. And is very disappointed in her. Soon enough, though, the other women reveal that they didn’t read it either.
On her way to her car Patricia is stopped by Kitty Scruggs, another book club woman. She invites Patricia to join the book club that she has just started. It’s going to be her and Slick Paley, a conservative Christian (with an amazing accent, thank you Bahni) who seems dumb but is far from dumb, and Maryellen, a Yankee transplant (who has a very different accent which is nice to hear). Eventually, even Grace joins because they are going to be reading the most salacious true crime books they can find.
Each of the women is married and their families are very different. Patricia’s husband is straight-laced. Her daughter is just old enough to be sarcastic to her and her son, Blue (that name is explained about 3/4 of the way through the book) has suddenly become obsessed with Nazis. Basically, she needs these women.
Five years later, the book club is still going and the women feel closer to each other than ever (although Patricia doesn’t feel super close to Grace, because who could, really). Then one night, a night that Blue didn’t take out the garbage, Patricia walks to where the cans are stored and is attacked. The assailant is an old woman. She acts crazy and even though Patricia knows her, she can’t talk sense into her. The old woman bites off part of her ear (which becomes quite a conversation piece, obviously). (more…)
