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Sweet Jiminy
by
Kristin Gore
In the throes of a quarter-life crisis, Jiminy Davis abruptly quits law school and flees Chicago for her grandmother Willa's farm in rural Mississippi. In search of peace and quiet, Jiminy instead stumbles upon more trouble and turmoil than she could have imagined.
She is shocked to discover that there was once another Jiminy - the daughter of her grandmother's longtime ho
...moreHardcover, 240 pages
Published
April 26th 2011
by HarperCollins Canada / Hyperion
(first published May 22nd 2010)
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This is my third Kristin Gore book and I very much enjoyed it.
Unlike Sammy's Hill and Sammy's House there isn't so much humour in this book but Gore still creates characters that it's easy to like. Although the story takes place in the present day in a small town in Mississippi the story is based on two murders in 1966 which remain unsolved.
Jiminy Davis needs a break from her life in Chicago and on a whim decideds to visit her grandmother in Fayeville. There she meets Bo Waters, the nephew of he...more
Unlike Sammy's Hill and Sammy's House there isn't so much humour in this book but Gore still creates characters that it's easy to like. Although the story takes place in the present day in a small town in Mississippi the story is based on two murders in 1966 which remain unsolved.
Jiminy Davis needs a break from her life in Chicago and on a whim decideds to visit her grandmother in Fayeville. There she meets Bo Waters, the nephew of he...more
Sweet Jiminy is Kristin Gore's third novel and is entirely different from her humorous Capitol Hill novels featuring heroine Sammy Joyce -- as it addresses matters of civil rights in our own beloved rural Mississippi.
Jiminy Davis is twenty-five years old, but already feels the strain of her law school studies that seem to be cramping her lifestyle. Seeking a break and a change of pace, Jiminy flees law school to visit her grandmother in Mississippi for the summer. Shortly after her arrival, she...more
Jiminy Davis is twenty-five years old, but already feels the strain of her law school studies that seem to be cramping her lifestyle. Seeking a break and a change of pace, Jiminy flees law school to visit her grandmother in Mississippi for the summer. Shortly after her arrival, she...more
Sweet is in the title, and the book sure is sweet. The storyline is a little fantastical (seems like the author wanted to throw in every trope out there about race, racism, immigration and the American south to make a point, rather than let her story organically emerge), but the characters are believable. The story revolves around the 1960s murder of a black father and daughter in Mississippi and the present-day inhabitants of the sleepy Mississippi town, including former Klansmen, new Mexican i...more
Doing some research on this author and novel, I came across the fact that Kristen Gore is the daughter of former Vice President Al Gore. I didn't know that at all going into this novel. It's a stirring tale of the continuing racism that can still occur in our supposedly "equalized" country.
Jiminy is an instantly relatable and real character. She breathes life and purpose into this novel. She has flaws - like a fear of cows. She seems to be the catalyst for all of the events that happen. My favo...more
Jiminy is an instantly relatable and real character. She breathes life and purpose into this novel. She has flaws - like a fear of cows. She seems to be the catalyst for all of the events that happen. My favo...more
This is a story about a town in the Deep South and how the world can change, but it doesn't mean the people do. Jiminy and Bo each find themselves back in Fayeville, both in their twenties, looking for themselves. Lyn, Bo's aunt, works for Willa, Jiminy's grandmother. We meet them and then we find out a lot more about how intertwined their families really are (because of course there's a mystery!). The story is unfolded slowly, but I was never bored reading.
(Again, I'm in readalike mode) I real...more
(Again, I'm in readalike mode) I real...more
This story is about a 25 year old woman who is wanting to change her life. She visits her Grandma Willa's house and there discovers an interesting/frightening story of two murders that were never investigated. Having occurred back in the 60s to a black family it was considered unimportant and forgotten about. As Willa is as-close-as-family to the surviving wife/mother of those murdered Jiminy is very intrigued as to what really occurred that horrible night. Jiminy struggles in her search because...more
I think what really drew me into this tale were the characters themselves. Jiminy Davis is 25 and not really sure she likes the direction that her life has taken. She goes home to Mississippi to try to figure out what to do next. There she uncovers a mystery that has been hidden by the town for years. In her determination to find out what really happened, she finds that she is stronger and more courageous than she ever thought she could be. Jiminy is a realistic and relatable character. She has...more
Kristin Gore sold me a Blackberry. When I read Sammy's House I wanted a Blackberry more than anything else: Blackberry was the word in connectedness, front-line communication, and edginess. You could even use it to extend your lovemaking! Washington never looked so interesting.
Sweet Jiminy is a different type of book altogether. Although Washington doesn't feature prominently, the main character is training to be a lawyer, and the person of interest in her love life is training to be a doctor. B...more
Sweet Jiminy is a different type of book altogether. Although Washington doesn't feature prominently, the main character is training to be a lawyer, and the person of interest in her love life is training to be a doctor. B...more
A quick and enjoyable summer read. This novel centers around a young woman reopening a cold-case whodunit for two murders in Civil-Rights Era rural Mississippi. Written by Kristin Gore, daughter of Al Gore, the book has its slightly contrived feeling moments--from turns of phrase and convenient plot twists to flawed character development (main character Jiminy's naivety about race relations is particularly irksome). However, the story is compelling enough that I was able to suspend my occasional...more
I really liked this book because I absolutely love Jiminy. Jiminy is one of those characters who changes thoroughly throughout the book, but she doesn't change over night. The change happens a little bit each page and it just sort of sneaks up on you. :)
Sweet Jiminy deals with a lot of controversial issues, racism being one of them. This book mostly takes place in the south, Mississippi, to be exact. From history we all know that there were some harsh feelings and in this book, those feelings h...more
Sweet Jiminy deals with a lot of controversial issues, racism being one of them. This book mostly takes place in the south, Mississippi, to be exact. From history we all know that there were some harsh feelings and in this book, those feelings h...more
I love Southern Fiction as a genre but add in a murder mystery and I am sold! This novel really took me back in time - even though it was not set in the past. The racial tension, and ethnic tension too, was so thick and alive – I was heartbroken and disgusted. I realize places like this still exist in the United States but I hate it!
I loved Jiminy’s character – lost, confused but also desperate to find herself. She didn’t run from law school because she gave up hope but more because she needed t...more
I loved Jiminy’s character – lost, confused but also desperate to find herself. She didn’t run from law school because she gave up hope but more because she needed t...more
I have really struggled with rating this one. It's more of a 3 1/2 than a 4 but I gave it the benefit of the doubt and rated it a 4.
This was a nice little book with a bit of mystery and a bit of romance. This appears to be Kristin Gore's effort to move away from the more 'fluffy' writing of her earlier book. This one is much more serious and really focuses on social issues.
Overall, I think this was a nice little book. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I really liked the main character, Jiminy. She was...more
This was a nice little book with a bit of mystery and a bit of romance. This appears to be Kristin Gore's effort to move away from the more 'fluffy' writing of her earlier book. This one is much more serious and really focuses on social issues.
Overall, I think this was a nice little book. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I really liked the main character, Jiminy. She was...more
I read Gore' previous books and LOVED them and nearly fell over when I read that she wrote another book that isn't part of her previous series. Seriously, her books are like some of my favorite chick-lit. Highly recommended. This book, not so much. She departs from her previous writing and takes a more serious note in this book, to a small southern town with still simmering race relations. Meh. I just can't relate as I have really never been to the south. And especially after reading The Help, I...more
This book was ok. Not upset that I read it but I could have done without reading it as well. I'm trying to decide what it is about the book that wasn't really jiving for me because there was something. I think I was upset because we have this white chick that comes in and saves the day for some ailing black folks. I guess I'm upset at her savior complex and how she just went about opening up a case that affected someone else's life and in a periphery way affected her life. I guess it wasn't her...more
I took a break from all-things-romance to read this book... and found myself loving everything about it!
Sweet Jiminy is filled with wonderful, complex, haunted characters who are all players in an equally wonderful, complex, and haunted story.
Even though the Whodunit was fairly obvious from the beginning, I still enjoyed the "unsolved crime" element and couldn't turn the pages fast enough to see how it would all be resolved in the end.
I was mesmerized by Kristin Gore's writing and will definite...more
Sweet Jiminy is filled with wonderful, complex, haunted characters who are all players in an equally wonderful, complex, and haunted story.
Even though the Whodunit was fairly obvious from the beginning, I still enjoyed the "unsolved crime" element and couldn't turn the pages fast enough to see how it would all be resolved in the end.
I was mesmerized by Kristin Gore's writing and will definite...more
I had not read anything by Kristin Gore and was skeptical of starting. I also feel that I have recently been inundated with civil-rights-era literature and was unsure if I wanted to go there again. The injustices that African Americans suffered in the south saddens me and I just didn't know if I was ready so soon after seeing "The Help". This is so much more than a civil rights novel! Ms. Gore is not just another celebrity writer and I'm glad that I gave her a chance! I found Sweet Jiminy to be...more
I absolutely loved the writing of Kristin Gore's first two books and not even three pages into her latest, Sweet Jiminy, I was hooked on a different subgenre of chick lit for her, one that tackled a murder mystery set in a little Southern town in the US. In a very rural town in the South, although much time has passed, the culture and prejudices of the people of Fayeville has stayed pretty much the same as if it were forty years ago. Jiminy, a young woman trying to find her way in the world has...more
Jiminy Davis quits her legal internship in Chicago and flees to her grandmother's house in small-town Mississippi. Aimless and bored, she explores the nooks and crannies of the old farmhouse and finds traces of family secrets, involving the husband and daugher, also named Jiminy, of the housekeeper, Lyn Waters. Lyn's handsome nephew Bo is also on hand, and his friendship with Jiminy ruffles the sensitivities of the town, Jiminy recruits a crusading journalist to help probe with happened to Edwar...more
Kristin Gore’s Sweet Jiminy is the story of a self-professed coward and law school drop-out. Jiminy ends up hiding out from the real world at her grandmother’s house by pure chance (a sighting of a t-shirt sends her there). As Jiminy looks for ways to occupy her time she stumbles across her grandfather’s diary and a cryptic entry that sends her on a quest that uncovers the perpetrators of a horrific crime in 1966 at the height of the civil rights movement. Along the way she discovers herself. Th...more
Gore leaves DC chick lit behind and enters that mystical place, the Southern small town. Law school student Jiminy is at a crossroads and heads to small Fayeville, Mississippi and the quiet of her grandmother Willa's home. There, she uncovers a decades old secret about another young girl named Jiminy, daughter of her grandmother's longtime housekeeper and companion, Lyn Waters. The mystery of what happened in the 60's to Edward and Jiminy Waters isn't too hard to figure out, but there are some g...more
I enjoyed this short read. The story is engrossing, set in rural Mississippi, in the present day, with a main character, Jiminy, who is a former law student. She ends up helping to investigate an unsolved racial crime from the 60's in a small community that still has plenty of hatred and intolerance towards anyone different than themselves. I liked the interesting characters and the romance. But the end seems rushed and un-developed, leaving me wishing the author had taken time to savor it a lit...more
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I really did enjoy Sweet Jiminy. Jiminy's idealistic sweetness did really radiate through the pages and made her a very likable character. I thought her reactions to the attitudes she encountered was very genuine. And aided her in growing up just a little. She was forced to face harsh realities when she realized that people in Fayeville really HATED her for who she was spending her time with. At the same time though, with her working so hard to solve the m...more
I really did enjoy Sweet Jiminy. Jiminy's idealistic sweetness did really radiate through the pages and made her a very likable character. I thought her reactions to the attitudes she encountered was very genuine. And aided her in growing up just a little. She was forced to face harsh realities when she realized that people in Fayeville really HATED her for who she was spending her time with. At the same time though, with her working so hard to solve the m...more
Just when you like to think that situations depicted in The Help are no longer common, guess again.
Sweet Jiminy is the story of a young woman named Jiminy who leaves law school to “find herself.” The first place she thinks of going to is her Grandmother’s home in a small town in Mississippi. While there she uncovers a family mystery surrounding the deaths of two African Americans who were murdered back in 1966. After uncovering old wounds and cover-ups during her investigation, she encounters u...more
Sweet Jiminy is the story of a young woman named Jiminy who leaves law school to “find herself.” The first place she thinks of going to is her Grandmother’s home in a small town in Mississippi. While there she uncovers a family mystery surrounding the deaths of two African Americans who were murdered back in 1966. After uncovering old wounds and cover-ups during her investigation, she encounters u...more
This is the first book I`ve read by Kristin Gore. Having read a review of it I thought I would love it, however this book deals lightly with a very important part of history. It is about Jiminy, a 25 year old woman who visits her grandmother Willa in the deep south and comes across the story of Willa`s cleaner Lyn whose husband and daughter were killed by klansmen in the 60s. Jiminy delves into the story and finds that racism is still present in the small town. She determines to bring justice, a...more
I really enjoyed this book. It was a gift and I had no real interest in reading it however it did not disappoint. The subject matter did not interest me particularly, but I absolutely loved the characters, which is rare. I was interested in each of them, their stories and struggles and what secrets they held that had led each of them to the beginning of the story in the small racially charged town in which they lived. Simple, yet well done. A commentary on life then and the struggles that can st...more
This is nothing like her Capitol Hill books, and I miss the humor that is present in her first books. I liked this story as I am interested in Civil Rights issues, but I didn't love it. If I had read this book first, I may not have ventured into her "Sammy" stories, so I'm definitely glad that I read them first! It was a short read, so at least the story wasn't dragged out. Not sure if I would recommend it or not, which sums up my ambivalent feelings about the book - didn't love it, didn't disli...more
Sweet Jiminy is a sweet read and full of Southern charm. You will be hooked on its characters. The setting is a small rural town in Mississippi that has a 40 year murder mystery. The main character Jiminy is a sweet southern girl who comes to visit her grandmother's farm. After she arrives she discovers a family journal that reveals another person named jiminy that lived and died before her. The characters are so real that you feel the porch gossip. I really liked this book and the story invites...more
The writing was average but I think it was sincere. A bunch of the same old characters you would find in any novel about race relations. Like most of the white people are "evil" and dumb & the blacks are morally superior "good" people. I just feel there is more to people then that but it's so hard to throw in shades of gray when your talking about racism. I feel the writer does have potential though. My biggest beef was the main woman Jiminy. Her personality was SO annoying and WAY more youn...more
Jiminy Davis's life is spinning out of control. She decides to drop out of the rat race of her present reality and back into a familiar past--her grandmother's home in Mississippi where she spent a summer as a child. However, the past isn't quite as sweet as she remembered it.
While Jiminy is trying to take a break from the stresses of life, she uncovers a 40-year old secret concerning a namesake she didn't even know existed. She latches on to the mystery like a pit bull and won't let go, hoping...more
While Jiminy is trying to take a break from the stresses of life, she uncovers a 40-year old secret concerning a namesake she didn't even know existed. She latches on to the mystery like a pit bull and won't let go, hoping...more
This is the second book that I have read in the last couple of months that takes place in Mississippi and deals with racial prejudice issues. This novel brings us pretty close to the subject as characters are discriminated against today and others are dealing with crimes of discrimination from years ago.
Although Jiminy is the main character of the novel she isn't necessarily the narrator. We seem to learn the most about Jiminy and her life as she takes it upon herself to look into an unsolved cr...more
Although Jiminy is the main character of the novel she isn't necessarily the narrator. We seem to learn the most about Jiminy and her life as she takes it upon herself to look into an unsolved cr...more
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