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About the Book:
Fifteen years ago, Tim Sandlin concluded his acclaimed “GroVont” trilogy. But some characters call a writer back.
Managing the Virgin Birth Home for Unwed Mothers means the women in Sam Callahan’s life keep his world interesting. But it’s his family members that really take the cake. His daughter may be having a nervous breakdown, and his mother’s just out of prison for attempting to poison the President’s dog. And when they hit the road with a geriatric, an adoptive son trying to discover his parentage, and an enraged psychopath on their tails, all hell may break loose.
About the Author:
Tim Sandlin has published eight novels. Two of his screenplays have been made into movies. He turned forty with no phone, TV, or flush toilet and spent more time talking to the characters in his head than the people around him. He now has seven phone lines, four TVs he doesn’t watch, three flush toilets, and a two-headed shower. He lives happily (indoors) with his family in Jackson, Wyoming.
My Opinion:
I am somewhat at a loss with this book. It is brilliantly written, with some truly delightful characters. Some of the character interactions made me laugh out loud but some of them had me wanting to throw the book in the river. I suppose a book that provides this much emotional diversity is good but I don't think I would read another of Mr. Sandlin's novels.
This is the fourth book, from what I can glean, about these characters from GroVont, Wyoming, and I felt quite lost at first. And to be honest still felt a bit lost at the ending. Relationships were not fully explained and had to be picked up within conversations or in bits and pieces throughout the book.
It left me feeling very uneasy. The protagonist, Lydia was completely unlikeable and without background it was hard for me to understand why she did half of what she did. In fact it was hard for me to understand why almost everyone did what they did and very little resolution was offered. Maybe I am too literal a reader for a book like this, I don't know.
It has received many an excellent review so my confusion is alien to the mainstream on this one. But we all have our likes and dislikes. And this one was not for me.
Lydia is available at Sourcebooks
Lydia is available at Amazon.com
Disclosure: I received a gratis copy of Lydia from Sourcebooks. Any opinions expressed are my honest opinions and were not impacted by my receipt of the free book. I received no monetary compensation for this post.
2 comments:
This is a great review, very honest. Thanks!
Wow, finally finished LYDIA and want to encourage everyone to stick with it, even if you fast forward through some pages. Take it off your "To-read" list and put it on your "Must-read" list. I’ve been a fan for two decades, thus pre-ordered Lydia on my Kindle figuring I’d read it in a few hours or at least overnight as I did Tim’s others. Like most TS addicts (don’t call me a Sandinista!), I expect him to be raunchy, but immediate raunchiness didn’t bode well with me this time. I’m not a prude, otherwise I wouldn’t adore his writing, but obviously I’m not a fan of the “P” word (despite loving the C word, the B word, the F word, and various other profane words). Add confusion regarding his POV writing, and I put Lydia on the back burner. First time ever that Sandlin went second on my reading list. But every time I opened my Kindle, Lydia beckoned me back, and eventually I attempted another read. Tim spoon fed me humor in previous novels, so having to actually use my medulla oblongata to work through this complicated read, seemed more of a task than entertainment. Too many years have passed between the GroVont trilogy and his other fun-filled reads, so I grabbed my hardcopy of Sorrow Floats and Western Swing for reference. Naturally I spent time rereading and laughing at the charming, dysfunctional folks in their earlier years. Okay. Back to Lydia. Oly Pedersen is more dominant than other characters, for good reason. If you initially scan through Oly’s tales (like I did), go back and savor his chronicles, chock full of Sandlin’s distinct voice and offbeat humor. A magical transition occurs as Sandlin brilliantly understates insights through his character voices—insights that may cause readers to face their own fears, weaknesses, and strengths. I realized worthwhile novels should never be read quickly. Tim joyfully surprised me with this magnificent, humorous, sentimental and bittersweet novel that neatly ties the final ribbons across his wonderful gift to readers. Thanks for the uplifting package, Mr. Sandlin aka Loren Paul and Sam Callahan.
Michelle McCarty
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