Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe
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4.5 • 54 Ratings
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
'A richly comic, poignant narrative' Harper Lee
Rediscover the ultimate comfort read in the classic story of friendship, loyalty and secrets set in the deep south of America in the 1930s.
The day Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison opened the Whistle Stop Cafe, the town took a turn for the better. It was the Depression and that cafe was a home from home for many of us. You could get eggs, grits, bacon, ham, coffee and a smile for 25 cents. Ruth was just the sweetest girl you ever met. And Idgie? She was a character, all right. You never saw anyone so headstrong. But how anybody could have thought she murdered that man is beyond me.
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a mouth-watering tale of love, laughter and mystery. It will lift your spirits and above all it'll remind you of the secret to life: friends.
'In the world of Flagg, plots, situations and outcomes that would normally make you fling a book across the room, here just have you reading on, smiling and hoping' Guardian
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When Cleo Threadgood and Evelyn Couch meet in the visitors lounge of an Alabama nursing home, they find themselves exchanging the sort of confidences that are sometimes only safe to reveal to strangers. At 48, Evelyn is falling apart: none of the middle-class values she grew up with seem to signify in today's world. On the other hand, 86-year-old Cleo is still being nurtured by memories of a lifetime spent in Whistle Stop, a pocket-sized town outside of Birmingham, which flourished in the days of the Great Depression. Most of the town's life centered around its one cafe, whose owners, gentle Ruth and tomboyish Idgie, served up grits (both true and hominy) to anyone who passed by. How their love for each other and just about everyone else survived visits from the sheriff, the Ku Klux Klan, a host of hungry hoboes, a murder and the rigors of the Depression makes lively readingthe kind that eventually nourishes Evelyn and the reader as well. Though Flagg's characters tend to be sweet as candied yams or mean clear through, she manages to infuse their story with enough tartness to avoid sentimentality. Admirers of the wise child in Flagg's first novel, Coming Attractions, will find her grown-up successor, Idgie, equally appealing. The book's best character, perhaps, is the town of Whistle Stop itself. Too bad the trains don't stop there anymore.
Customer Reviews
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
One of the most heartwarming books I’ve had the pleasure to read.
A beautiful woven story spanning the decades of life in Alabama. Told from all perspectives, engaging characters, humour, grief. A book that will stay with you a long time.
Perfect
I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to realise there was an original book version of the movie!! Loved every word. Nostalgic writing full of heart and humour. Laughed, cried. It felt like the characters were friends just in the next room. Didn’t want it to end. Off to read more Fannie Flagg…
Better than the film, and just as heart wrenching
After seeing the film again for perhaps the hundredth time, I decided to read the book. In many ways it was like seeing the movie again, only in my head. There are a few difference that I won't spoil, but they add to the story and it is a shame that the film didn't keep them. The book also explains about Mrs Threadgood's relationship to Idgie, which is left vague in the film and of course it still had me sobbing by the end.
Definitely a book that I will read again and again. Enjoy!