My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Helen Ellis first lured me in with American Housewife, a book of short stories packing enough zing to win a fan (and boasting a hilarious cover photo to boot). When her follow-up hit stores earlier this month, I immediately grabbed a copy, practically rubbing my hands in anticipation.
The good news: Ellis fills the short, breezy essays with enough wit and charm to make reading them feel like a laid-back lunch date with a funny friend. She's handy with the quotable quips, too. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.
The less-good news: It drags in places. While I read most of the essays in full, I skipped over a couple that didn't grab me. However, these were in the minority.
The chapters mostly go down light and easy like your memaw’s buttermilk biscuits, but a couple offer a brief flash of something darker that’s mentioned ever so briefly and never discussed again. I suppose that’s fitting if you want to write a funny, light read that never gets too heavy. But those little glimpses make you wonder what might have been had she dared to go there.
Buy Southern Lady Code on Amazon
View all my reviews on Goodreads
No comments:
Post a Comment