Gone South
A Novel
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- ¥1,200
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- ¥1,200
発行者による作品情報
The charm of the South drew her back to her family’s roots. But when the town’s old resentments turn the sweet tea bitter, can Tish find a welcome anywhere?
Tish McComb never imagined that she would leave frosty Michigan for the Deep South, but an opportunity to buy her great-great-great-grandparents’ Civil War era home beckons Tish to Noble, Alabama, a Southern town in every sense of the word. She wonders if God has given her a new dream, since her dreams of marriage and family were dashed five years earlier in a tragic accident: the old house filled with friends, her vintage percolator bubbling on the sideboard.
When Tish discovers that McCombs aren’t welcome in town, she feels like a Yankee behind enemy lines. Only George Zorbas, the local antiques dealer, seems willing to give her a chance. So what’s a lonely outcast to do but take in Noble’s resident prodigal daughter, Melanie Hamilton, and hope that the two can find some much needed acceptance in each other.
Problem is, old habits die hard, and Mel is quite set in her destructive ways. With Melanie blocked from going home, Tish must try to manage her incorrigible houseguest as she attempts to prove her own worth in a town that seems to have forgotten that every sinner needs God-given mercy, love and forgiveness.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this light, unfocused tale of love and personal epiphany, Moseley (When Sparrows Fall) dovetails faith with daily struggle. Letitia (Tish) McComb is a woman searching for her roots and the search draws her to Noble, Ala., into the lives of two people who need her desperately. With no real time to deal with the ending of a previous romantic relationship, the death of her father, and the adjustment to smalltown life, Tish must rely on her relationship with God to survive pitfalls. While faith plays a central role in guiding Tish's life, distractions from that message abound. Characters evolve slowly, showing no clear or deep change. Otherwise seamless storytelling is occasionally marred by jarring jumps and abrupt decisions that, while realistic, detract from the flow. The romance involving Tish and a local is gentle and slow-blooming. Their present-day relationship is understated, compared to the emphasis on the ghosts of their pasts. The story is a gentle one, compelling and comfortable, relaxed without fully living up to its potential.
