The Imagination of the Heart
Book Seven of the Story of Sailor and Lula
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
The Imagination of the Heart is the final chapter in the saga of Sailor Ripley and Lula Pace Fortune, the "Romeo and Juliet of the Deep South." Their story began in Barry Gifford's novel Wild at Heart, which in 1990 was made into a Palme d'Or–winning feature film by David Lynch. Following Sailor’s death at the age of sixty-five in New Orleans, Lula moved back to her home state of North Carolina. This novel begins fifteen years later when Lula, at age eighty, decides to write a memoir in diary form, reflecting on her life with Sailor while also keeping a journal describing her last road trip: a journey with Beany Thorn, her best friend since childhood, back to New Orleans.
Like a contemporary book of Revelations, dutifully recorded by Lula as a dialogue between self and soul, it becomes a bittersweet, often dangerous journey into the imagination of the heart, and what may lie beyond.
Also included in this edition is "The Truth is in the Work," a conversation between Barry Gifford and Noel King which delves into a range of topics, from Gifford’s early publishing experiences to his film projects and to professional sports.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gifford's final installment in the Sailor and Lula saga (which began with Wild at Heart, made into a film by David Lynch) finds high hilarity in a road trip back to New Orleans by the aged Southern best-bosom buddies Lula Pace Fortune and Beany Thorn. It's been 18 years since Lula's lifelong beau, Sailor, was killed in a car accident, and Lula, now 80, having left her home in New Orleans, has been living in a small North Carolina town with her mother's dear friend, until the friend's recent death. Along comes Beany for a visit, and the two, still bubbling with life, make a trip to New Orleans, where Lula's son lives, though Lula's not sure she can face the pain of returning to her beloved city transfigured by Hurricane Katrina. Some of the roadside adventures and off-screen plot happenings feel dashed off, but the real draw is Gifford's unfettered delight in the biblically gracious parlance of Southern dames, rendered in dialogue you might overhear at Commander's Palace.
