Leaving Cold Sassy
A Novel
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
"A gift" for those who loved the heartwarming million-copy bestseller Cold Sassy Tree (The New York Times).
Anyone who came under the spell of Olive Ann Burns's classic novel Cold Sassy Tree will delight in Leaving Cold Sassy, which returns to the story of the unforgettable Will Tweedy. In 1917, twenty-five-year-old Will now faces the complexities of adult life. He grapples with the influences of the modern world on his cherished Georgia hometown, which has recently been renamed Progressive City, and he finds his wife-to-be in a feisty young schoolteacher named Sanna Klein.
Burns had completed fifteen chapters of this novel by the time of her death in 1990, and she expressed her wish for them to be published, as they are here, with her notes for future scenes. In addition, Burns's longtime editor and friend, Katrina Kenison, leaves us with an appreciative reminiscence of the beloved author and the legacy she left behind.
"This is all the news from Cold Sassy we will ever have and its scarcity makes it more precious." —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As she battled cancer, Burns (1924-1990) completed 14 chapters of a sequel to her 1984 bestseller Cold Sassy Tree , leaving behind at her death part of a 15th chapter and notes on how she intended to develop the novel's characters and plot. This new visit to the fictional town of Cold Sassy, Ga., features the original novel's protagonist, Will Tweedy, now 25 and too dang skinny to fight in WW I. Encouraged by local matchmakers, Will nervously courts schoolteacher Sanna Klein. Although the completed chapters do not cover their marriage, the births of their four kids or their hardships, these events are foreshadowed; in fact, most of the characters are based on Burns's immediate family and the story draws on their experiences. While it's tempting to relax and enjoy the outrageous southern situations, humor and attitudes here, the knowledge that the narrative will abruptly end (leaving conflicts sadly unresolved) dictates a cautious approach. Readers should prepare for an interrupted work-in-process, an uneasy sense of a writer's voice about to be stilled. Kenison, Burns's editor and friend, has packaged this second book respectfully and affectionately, adding an overlong, eulogistic portrait in which she limns the author's creative growth and painful but productive final years. Photos not seen by PW.
