Under Magnolia
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
The long-awaited memoir of her Southern childhood from the bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun.
the long-awaited memoir of her Southern childhood from the bestselling author of Under the tuscan Sun. Growing up, Frances Mayes longed to leave the small town of Fitzgerald, Georgia, but now she's been drawn back to explore her past ... Beautifully written and very intimate, this memoir evokes the Deep South in all its steamy warmth, fascinating characters and disturbing undercurrents. With her signature style and grace, Mayes delves deeply into her roots, the bitter and sweet stories of her complicated family, and Southern traditions and her connections to them. A lyrically written, searingly honest and affecting account of Mayes' rediscovery of her past. 'An exquisitely evoked journey into a Southern childhood and the getting of wisdom. Right up there with Under the tuscan Sun.' - Susan Duncan, author of Salvation Creek 'One of those books you want to devour but realize it's more satisfying to savor for as long as possible.'- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) 'In her new southern memoir, Under Magnolia, Frances Mayes describes the birth of her extraordinary sensibility, the deep-pooled clarity of her writing, her giddy love of nature and her sharp and satirical eye for those who brought her up to honorable womanhood in the tortured South of her girlhood.' - Pat Conroy, author of the Prince of tides 'No other writer today breathes life into place like Frances Mayes. ... Under Magnolia is a love song, a rich and beautiful book.' - Ann Hood, author of the Knitting Circle and Comfort: A Journey through Grief
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in the author's "one-mile-square" hometown of Fitzgerald in the backwoods of Georgia, Mayes's (Every Day in Tuscany) latest memoir depicts a childhood of rich meals and drunk, impatient parents her adoring and violent father and her restless alcoholic mother. Mayes endures their "long night sieges," distracting herself with books and seeking comfort from Willie Bell, the family cook. The portrayal of Willie Bell is refreshingly unromantic, written with candor and respect as Mayes refers to her as an ally, adding "it was not a cozy, member-of-the-family thing she and I simply knew we were in it together." When Mayes refers to fleeing the South, her reasoning is more tied to ambition than victimhood. Her accounts of high school and college first at Randolph-Macon, then at University of Florida are teeming with tales of friendships and eager suitors. Though the prose is dazzling throughout, Mayes's best stories are the early ones. In an especially moving scene, she sits outside in a car while her father dies in the house. Her uncle urges her to come inside, saying "Sugar, you better go in and say good-bye." Readers will not tire of Mayes' splendid imagery.
