The Sweet Life
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
The heartwarming sequel to The Piano Teacher
In her eagerly anticipated second novel, The Sweet Life, York catches up with the good people of Swan’s Knob for another poignant, funny, and beautifully realized glimpse of small-town life in the South.
It’s been eight years since Roy Swan successfully won the hand of piano teacher and resident choir director, Miss Wilma and now, their lives have settled into a state of happy predictability. But all that changes with the arrival of Miss Wilma’s teenage granddaughter, whose estranged father, Harper, follows shortly behind. Soon Harper has convinced Roy to let him stage a “small” country and bluegrass concert in his pasture, drawing thousands of screaming fans, not to mention a small forest of Porta Potties. Roy and Wilma weather each new tempest with grace and grit, until a crippling stroke leaves Roy debilitated—and life in Swan’s Knob becomes a lot less simple.
A worthy successor to her memorable debut, Lynn York’s The Sweet Life weaves a story at once whimsical and wise, filled with all the warmth and charm of the South itself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Folksy, slyly erotic and immensely entertaining, York's sequel to 2004's The Piano Teacher revisits Swan's Knob, N.C., as returning heroine Wilma Swan takes charge of her granddaughter, Star, and Star's hustler father, Harper, rumbles into town in 1988 eight years after Wilma married the town's leading (and wealthiest) citizen, Roy. Wilma's daughter, Sarah, asks Wilma to watch Star while she travels to the Far East, and soon, smooth-talking Harper arrives and convinces Roy to allow him to use the family farm for a bluegrass festival. Wilma hardly has time to protest before her beloved husband has a near-fatal stroke and falls into a coma. Enter Delrina Kay, a fading country music star whose thirst for the wine from Roy's vineyard is nearly as well-developed as her bosom. Following Delrina's and Harper's wine-fueled late-night trip to the hospital, Roy comes out of his coma, sparking a dispute about who and what is responsible for Roy's recovery. Quixotic hijinks, quirky characters and affecting romance (both adolescent and geriatric) afford insights into the imbroglios of smalltown types searching for happiness.
