Hey friends,
Today I have a review that's out of my comfort zone. Personally I don't like to read books with too serious or sad story lines. At times, I just feel that there's enough bad stuff going on in the real world (that I see everyday on the news), that I don't want it to seep into my reading time...in other words, I read for fun and to relax. Who wants to get all upset when their trying to relax? For that matter, I really do tend to stay away from Civil Rights themed books or books that deal with racism in general. Of course - this is my personal preference.
Regardless of my feelings, this was a book club read and it was really short, so I decided to read the book so that I'd be able to discuss it. Let me just start with saying that this was one of the most sad books that I've read in a long time. So much so that I decided against doing a video review because I didn't want to end up ranting. Anyhow, let's get into the meat of it. Read on to find out what I thought of The Pecan Man.
Today I have a review that's out of my comfort zone. Personally I don't like to read books with too serious or sad story lines. At times, I just feel that there's enough bad stuff going on in the real world (that I see everyday on the news), that I don't want it to seep into my reading time...in other words, I read for fun and to relax. Who wants to get all upset when their trying to relax? For that matter, I really do tend to stay away from Civil Rights themed books or books that deal with racism in general. Of course - this is my personal preference.
Regardless of my feelings, this was a book club read and it was really short, so I decided to read the book so that I'd be able to discuss it. Let me just start with saying that this was one of the most sad books that I've read in a long time. So much so that I decided against doing a video review because I didn't want to end up ranting. Anyhow, let's get into the meat of it. Read on to find out what I thought of The Pecan Man.
Publisher: Self Published | Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Release Date: January 1, 2012
Format: ebook (Kindle)
Pages: 144
Source: Amazon
Genre: General Fiction, Southern Fiction
Review Date: June 8, 2015
Rating: 3 bookmarks
Synopsis: The Pecan Man is a work of Southern fiction whose first chapter was the First Place winner of the 2006 CNW/FFWA Florida State Writing Competition in the Unpublished Novel category. In the summer of 1976, recently widowed and childless, Ora Lee Beckworth hires a homeless old black man to mow her lawn. The neighborhood children call him the Pee-can Man; their mothers call them inside whenever he appears. When the police chief's son is found stabbed to death near his camp, the man Ora knows as Eddie is arrested and charged with murder. Twenty-five years later, Ora sets out to tell the truth about the Pecan Man. In narrating her story, Ora discovers more truth about herself than she could ever have imagined.
Release Date: January 1, 2012
Format: ebook (Kindle)
Pages: 144
Source: Amazon
Genre: General Fiction, Southern Fiction
Review Date: June 8, 2015
Rating: 3 bookmarks
Synopsis: The Pecan Man is a work of Southern fiction whose first chapter was the First Place winner of the 2006 CNW/FFWA Florida State Writing Competition in the Unpublished Novel category. In the summer of 1976, recently widowed and childless, Ora Lee Beckworth hires a homeless old black man to mow her lawn. The neighborhood children call him the Pee-can Man; their mothers call them inside whenever he appears. When the police chief's son is found stabbed to death near his camp, the man Ora knows as Eddie is arrested and charged with murder. Twenty-five years later, Ora sets out to tell the truth about the Pecan Man. In narrating her story, Ora discovers more truth about herself than she could ever have imagined.
This story is told from the point if view of an old woman, looking back decades to tell a story. A story of her maid and her maids family who actually became family to her as well. The story takes place in a small town where is a lot of racism still happening and she finds herself in a situation were she's compelled to protect a secret. A huge one. At first, I wasn't sure what I thought about Ora Lee Beckworth's character, but as the story went one, I was able to understand how and why she felt such a strong desire to "do the right thing" and defend against the unfair things that were happening to her friends. The secondary characters are plentiful and lend themselves to adding dimension and contrast to the story line.
I enjoyed Selleck's writing style. It was a very smooth and easy going reading experience, sans the sad subject matter. Some of the conversations were written in a way that you could tell that some of the characters were less educated than others, but that didn't bother me. I think that it was essential to the characters which it applied to. This story was well paced and didn't feel rushed even with the shortness of it. I was able to read it fairly quickly. I'm sure that it helped that it was under 200 pages. The plot was forward moving and kept me wanting to know what would happen in the end.
Speaking of the end. Personally, I don't tend to like the types of books where a sever injustice has occurred and it seems like no justice is served. On the other hand, it was indeed a realistic ending, which I can appreciate.
Overall I did enjoy the story and I'm glad that I read it. If you like Civil Rights era books and stories that revolve around that subject matter, then you'll enjoy the read. It's definitely an adult book with adult subject matter. This was a book club read, and while the club hasn't met to discuss it yet, I do feel that there will be some interesting conversation. This would be a good choice for book club, as it's a short read and the story itself is controversial.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes:
“Once you tell a lie, you have to keep tellin’ and tellin’ and tellin’ to make it stand.”
“But, it never dawned on me how wrong it was that I tied her innocence to the fact that she was with me, not who she was, and I am humbled by my ignorance.”
Happy Reading,
~Tamara
I enjoyed Selleck's writing style. It was a very smooth and easy going reading experience, sans the sad subject matter. Some of the conversations were written in a way that you could tell that some of the characters were less educated than others, but that didn't bother me. I think that it was essential to the characters which it applied to. This story was well paced and didn't feel rushed even with the shortness of it. I was able to read it fairly quickly. I'm sure that it helped that it was under 200 pages. The plot was forward moving and kept me wanting to know what would happen in the end.
Speaking of the end. Personally, I don't tend to like the types of books where a sever injustice has occurred and it seems like no justice is served. On the other hand, it was indeed a realistic ending, which I can appreciate.
Overall I did enjoy the story and I'm glad that I read it. If you like Civil Rights era books and stories that revolve around that subject matter, then you'll enjoy the read. It's definitely an adult book with adult subject matter. This was a book club read, and while the club hasn't met to discuss it yet, I do feel that there will be some interesting conversation. This would be a good choice for book club, as it's a short read and the story itself is controversial.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes:
“Once you tell a lie, you have to keep tellin’ and tellin’ and tellin’ to make it stand.”
“But, it never dawned on me how wrong it was that I tied her innocence to the fact that she was with me, not who she was, and I am humbled by my ignorance.”
Happy Reading,
~Tamara
Get the Kindle version here: 
