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A Good Hard Look

by Ann Napolitano (Goodreads Author)

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 670 ratings · 199 reviews

Literary history and fiction gracefully intersect in Ann Napolitano's second novel. (Her first was the well-received 2005 Within Arm's Length.) A Good Hard Look pays tribute to author Flannery O'Connor in both its setting (her hometown of Milledgeville, Georgia) and its title (a sly remake of O'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard to Find). The legendary author also makes appearanc

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Hardcover, 326 pages

Published July 7th 2011 by Penguin Press HC, The

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Aug 31, 2011 Janet rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, historical-fiction, book-club-pick

What nerve Ann Napolitano has. It takes nerve to write a novel with Flannery O'Connor as a main character. To set much of the story in O'Connor's hometown of Milledgeville, Georgia and Andalusia, O'Connor's farm. To take on the very themes that O'Connor explored with such artistry: death, grace, faith, forgiveness, redemption. To write characters whose lives will change in a second, whose fate will hinge on small moments with unthinkable consequences. A stolen kiss in a car, the spreading of a b...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Cleo rated it 5 of 5 stars

A Good Hard Look is set in the small town of Milledgeville, Georgia. The writer Flannery O'Connor has been forced by illness to return to Milledgeville. There, the lives of many people collide: Cookie, a beautiful Southern lady just returned from New York with her wealthy fiancee Melvin, Lona Waters, the wife of the sheriff, who is very unhappy, and others. After one disastrous afternoon, everyone will have to deal with the repercussions of their actions, to take a good hard look at the choices...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Sandie rated it 5 of 5 stars

The local celebrity in Milledgeville, Georgia, is Flannery O’Connor. Raised in the town, Flannery moved to New York to pursue a writing career. She is making headway when she receives the same diagnosis of lupus that killed her father. Flannery’s disease moves quickly and at the age of twenty-five, she is back home in Milledgeville at the family farm, Andalusia. She spends her time writing and raising peacocks; the fierce, proud birds touching a chord in her. She is the local star, yet feared by...more The local celebrity in Milledgeville, Georgia, is Flannery O’Connor. Raised in the town, Flannery moved to New York to pursue a writing career. She is making headway when she receives the same diagnosis of lupus that killed her father. Flannery’s disease moves quickly and at the age of twenty-five, she is back home in Milledgeville at the family farm, Andalusia. She spends her time writing and raising peacocks; the fierce, proud birds touching a chord in her. She is the local star, yet feared by many of the town for her ability to see through the artifice with which most of us surround our lives. As O’Connor was known to say: “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”
While Flannery is the most famous inhabitant, she is not necessarily the most influential. That would be the power couple of Cookie and Melvin Whiteson. Cookie grew up in town, the ‘it’ girl who was the most popular in high school and who won all the trophies and prizes. She went North after school and returned with Melvin, an extremely wealthy man who wants to marry her. Their wedding is the year’s most talked about event, and also the place where Melvin and Flannery meet. They strike up a friendship that Cookie is unaware of and would never approve of. Cookie spends her time organizing everything worth organizing in town and is recognized as the woman who makes things happen.

Lona Waters is as far in character from Cookie as it is possible to be. Lona has drifted through life, married to Bill Waters, an ambitious policeman. She has a drapery business and spends her time making window treatments for the wealthy of the town. Yet, Cookie, Flannery and Lona all are brought together in an afternoon of tragedy. Afterwards, none of the women or the men in their lives are the same.

Ann Napolitano has created a masterful portrayal of Southern life and more, the portrayal of how most of us move through life, living it but never really experiencing it to the fullest. The characters are compellingly drawn, while the tragedy that defines the book is foreshadowed in such a way that when it occurs, it seems inevitable. Yet, the characters and their lives also have hope, leaving the reader shaken and better for having read it. This book is highly recommended for all readers; a powerful novel that redefines how individuals can face life and its hardships.

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Aug 02, 2012 Chuck Lowry rated it 1 of 5 stars

In his novel Flaubert's Parrot, Julian Barnes asks the question, "What is it about the writing that makes us chase the writer?" Some efforts to chase the writer are simply best not undertaken, and this is one of them. There are too many elements that are simply creepy. It is, I suppose, not unheard of that an older woman, married to a policeman, has a sexual affair with a sixteen-year-old (a classmate of her own daughter) consummated in a house where they are working, but to celebrate this as li...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Kerry rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, southern

This book is so amazing that I finished it on the last leg of a flight home from my women's martial arts conference - a time when I was physically and mentally exhausted and should have been sleeping. Or, if not sleeping, reading a nice, fluffy romance. But I just couldn't stay away from this masterpiece. Now, I know nothing about Flannery O'Connor (yes, it's shocking, I know), so I can't draw any parallels between Napolitano's work and O'Connor's own. I can only respond to the book as it stands...more This book is so amazing that I finished it on the last leg of a flight home from my women's martial arts conference - a time when I was physically and mentally exhausted and should have been sleeping. Or, if not sleeping, reading a nice, fluffy romance. But I just couldn't stay away from this masterpiece. Now, I know nothing about Flannery O'Connor (yes, it's shocking, I know), so I can't draw any parallels between Napolitano's work and O'Connor's own. I can only respond to the book as it stands on its own. It stands very well indeed!

For me, the book falls naturally into three sections. In the first, Napolitano introduces us Milledgeville, Georgia, and three women living there: Flannery O'Connor, who has returned to her childhood home after the onset of crippling lupus; Cookie, a young wife stepping into her rightful place among the town's leading women; and Lona, a struggling seamstress married to an ambitious police officer. These women, the ancillary characters, and the town they live in are beautifully realized - complex and real down to their bones, and never descending to caricature.

In the second section, the interactions among the characters results in devastating personal tragedy. That the interactions would result in conflict was obvious as I was reading - that was clear from the natures of the characters and the relationships themselves. But I had no idea how the situation would explode, nor was I in any way prepared for the explosion when it happened. Which is how life works, isn't it? One minute you're living your life, and the next your world has been turned upside down and you're left gasping for breath, trying to figure out where the pieces went. What I'm trying to say is that Napolitano created a perfectly unexpected, perfectly devastating, and perfectly real catastrophe to throw every character into a tailspin. It took my breath away. How each character reacts makes up the rest of this section.

Fortunately, Napolitano doesn't leave us hanging there, but follows each character and s/he hits bottom and begins the long climb back into the light. The journeys aren't necessarily pretty, but they are human. And, ultimately, they are heartbreakingly beautiful.

I am in awe of Napolitano's craftsmanship - of the way she made every character, every setting, and every action in this book so completely real and natural. I love her prose, which is at once poetic and powerful without being contrived. I adore her humor, which is sly and witty without being mean. I can't wait to read her next work!(less)

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Sep 07, 2011 Katrina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it,” is the epigraphic quote that begins Ann Napolitano’s new novel, “A Good Hard Look.” Even if you haven’t read Flannery O’Connor and experienced her unflinching characterizations and situations rendered with sharp wit, you will feel as if you know her after reading this memorable portrayal. Milledgeville, Georgia, the town in which O’Connor lived, comes to life in Napolitano’s assured hands, and its characters are just as lively a...more “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it,” is the epigraphic quote that begins Ann Napolitano’s new novel, “A Good Hard Look.” Even if you haven’t read Flannery O’Connor and experienced her unflinching characterizations and situations rendered with sharp wit, you will feel as if you know her after reading this memorable portrayal. Milledgeville, Georgia, the town in which O’Connor lived, comes to life in Napolitano’s assured hands, and its characters are just as lively and flawed as you’d expect them to be.

One of the women, a pampered belle, is terrified she’ll end up a character in Flannery’s work, an unflattering replica doused with Flannery’s acerbic humor. A boy suffers from crippling anxiety except when he’s around his summer employer. Two women take care of each other’s child and the result is that a girl gets the nurturing she needs and a boy moves too quickly into adulthood. After a wealthy, married man is asked to teach Flannery to drive, they develop a clandestine friendship, and a police man lives for earning a promotion and little else. Firmly in the center are Flannery, hindered by her illness, yet dedicated to her work, her mother Regina, whose devotion to her daughter is deeply affecting, and a flock of raucous peacocks. As in O’Connor’s work, there are larger questions of religion and grace throughout. The people in “A Good Hard Look” are leaning toward self-destruction and one irreversible, calamitous misstep will bring others down like dominoes in its wake.

Napolitano is a gifted storyteller, recreating Milledgeville and its imperfect but well-meaning people, lending a sensibility that’s arguably in keeping with O’Connor’s vision, yet grounded in her own modern voice. In this vein, Napolitano offers us a look at characters on their rough and painful journey toward redemption.

O’Connor once wrote, “I am not afraid the book will be controversial, I’m afraid it will not be controversial.” I imagine Ms. O’Connor would have approved of “A Good Hard Look.”

*Review first published in the August 14th edition of The Pilot of Southern Pines
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Aug 27, 2011 Linda Lipko rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

At the young age of 39, Flannery O'Connor's life ended when systemic lupus claimed her body. This novel weaves a tale of the last five years of Flannery's life.

A friend who shares similar reading tastes recommended this book. I owe her a big thanks! This book is brilliantly, powerfully written.

Anyone who appreciates the writings of Flannery O'Connor will find a home when reading this book. It is obvious the writer researched the life of O'Connor and, it is amazing that like O'Connor, the author...more

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Aug 17, 2011 switterbug (Betsey) rated it 5 of 5 stars

The sleepy town of Milledgeville, Georgia, circa 1960, is about to get a colossal wake-up call. Tectonic shifts in social dynamics and behavior will disrupt the civil order of its typically complacent peace. The high-pitched yowls heard at the center of town were previously the exclusive domain of author Flannery O'Connor's peacocks, housed on a 544-acre farm in Andalusia, four miles northwest of the central rural sprawl. Now the muted laments of malcontents and smug inhabitants will create vast...more The sleepy town of Milledgeville, Georgia, circa 1960, is about to get a colossal wake-up call. Tectonic shifts in social dynamics and behavior will disrupt the civil order of its typically complacent peace. The high-pitched yowls heard at the center of town were previously the exclusive domain of author Flannery O'Connor's peacocks, housed on a 544-acre farm in Andalusia, four miles northwest of the central rural sprawl. Now the muted laments of malcontents and smug inhabitants will create vast cracks in the town's foundation and eclipse the peacock's cries.

The story opens with the shrill, plangent brays of the peacocks intruding on the serenity of Cookie Himmel and her fiancé, Melvin Whiteson, the night before their wedding. Cookie, who is Milledgeville's southern belle beauty and community organizer, met the wealthy Melvin in New York, and brought him back home to start their married life. Cookie and Flannery have a murky past that is revealed in measured increments, furnishing the story with a past that threatens to ambush the future.

The laconic O'Connor, disabled by lupus, manages to fluster Cookie at every opportunity. Complicating matters is the friendly relationship between Melvin and Flannery, commenced at the wedding and growing, despite Cookie's entreaties to her husband to stop seeing the author, her nemesis.

Lona, the compliant wife of policeman and politically aspiring Bill Waters, is a restive soul who sews curtains for the people of Milledgeville, and has recently been hired by Cookie to decorate the windows of the Whiteson mansion. Lona's friendship with the town gossip, Miss Mary, is strengthened by all the years that Mary took care of Lona's daughter, Gigi. Now Miss Mary needs a return favor--for Lona to hire Mary's son, Joe, a quietly troubled but likable high school senior. The plan is for Lona to inveigle Joe to confide his torments to her, in an effort to cure what ails him psychologically.

The first one hundred or so pages are about as bland as the town itself. In retrospect, this is obviously deliberate on Napolitano's part. There is an old-fashioned dowdiness to the language, even a few clichés--yet smartly transacted, despite her prosaicness, to lull the reader into Milledgeville's collective vanilla life. The inclusion of Flannery O'Connor was risky, of course, as an historical individual can be a distracting, dubious force in a fictional story. In this case, however, Flannery's presence is both vital and pivotal.

The stoic purr of Milledgeville cruises along, a little messiness beginning to darken the sky, and the wild grasses of the landscape, almost succumbing to ennui, start to rustle. Abruptly, the sanguinity is blind-sided, and the reader, in a crucial, irreversible moment, is hit by a two-ton truck. And then hurled through the windshield (metaphorically speaking, of course). We are seized from passive observance to pressing pain and tragic immediacy.

What is impressive about Napolitano's craftsmanship is her ability to find the domain between melodrama and verisimilitude, to captivate the reader through phenomenal events that are grounded in authenticity. She does it through the seemingly serviceable prose, her musculature residing in her story. Napolitano, in the final assessment, is a consummate storyteller. She doesn't lose control of her keenly drawn characters once they are covered with the shattered glass of events, stranded on the highway of a broken life. She continues to develop and reveal, develop and reveal, and carries the reader effectively to a genuine conclusion.

There is one crushed relationship that, towards the end, evolves in a way that may be difficult for some readers to accept. Can the shards of tragedy manifest into triumph? Napolitano succeeds in making it plausible, by committing the characters to acute self-examination and opening a valve to redemption. Take a good hard look at sleepy Milledgeville, Georgia, and find a moving, merciful salvation through catastrophic pain and suffering. (less)

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Aug 08, 2011 Kathleen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: authors-new-to-me

I like to read with a pen and small notebook close by, to copy a phrase or thought or question for later reflection. This book caused me to stop so often to bookmark or jot something down that it almost became a distraction. "A Good Hard Look" may be the most thought-provoking book I have read in many months.

Flannery O’Connor is an author I have read off and on throughout my life, drawn to her style and subjects at times, put off by her raw emotions at others, intrigued by the literary giants wh...more I like to read with a pen and small notebook close by, to copy a phrase or thought or question for later reflection. This book caused me to stop so often to bookmark or jot something down that it almost became a distraction. "A Good Hard Look" may be the most thought-provoking book I have read in many months.

Flannery O’Connor is an author I have read off and on throughout my life, drawn to her style and subjects at times, put off by her raw emotions at others, intrigued by the literary giants who were her peers, and saddened by her debilitating illness and early death. In this novel, she, and the fictional characters that surround her, come to life struggling with their tragic flaws.
At the beginning of this novel, O’Connor has been back in her childhood home in Georgia for 12 years, forced to move from her stimulating writing life in the North back to her childhood home where her mother could help care for her after her diagnosis with lupus. “She knew what it was like to have a life, and then lose it.” The townspeople resent her because they believe she has used them and the town in her novel, Wise Blood, and anticipate their lives could and will be used again. Meeting her face to face, hearing her searing, honest thoughts, further frightens them away.

The foreshadowing in the early pages of the novel is evident, but I was unprepared for the tsunami that occurred bringing such destruction to so many characters. Details are exquisitely drawn, almost excruciatingly, moment by moment, as one observes Flannery’s beloved peacocks and characters. The author manages to capture moments in characters’ lives that both defined them and revealed their most awful selves. The reader may also see something of himself.

Flannery O’Connor…Melvin Whiteson…Cookie Himmel…Miss Mary…Regina O’Connor…Lona, Bill, Gigi, Joe…The platonic relationship that develops between O’Connor and a recently married man whose wife has long despised O’Connor is built upon secrecy. Ironically, words connected them; Flannery “fought to make every word count” in her writing. She and Melvin Whiteson are able to converse with each other in a way that is not available elsewhere in their lives. “He knew from her writing, from the way she trapped tiny disappointments, tiny hopes, tiny frustrations and pinned them down with sentences. Flannery saw everything, and was able to translate her insights into words.” Whiteson’s wife, Cookie Himmel, is driven to carve out a life in Milledgeville that serves her self-indulgent needs, feeds her ego, and separates her from Flannery; it also reflects the socioeconomic realities of the small town. While she and an ambitious police officer are strategic about their work, other characters seem to behave more aimlessly, and yet, all are caught in the tidal wave.

“Everyone had, at best, only one big story in his or her life; a story that rendered everything else just a footnote.”

Flannery’s knowledge that death was imminent and her obsession with her writing as time was running out kept pace with the small steps being taken by others whose lives were irrevocably changed one afternoon.

In the end whose fate is worse? Who has lost more? Are there lessons of forgiveness and redemption? “There were very few guiltless people that day.” The perceptions of the characters reveal their flawed, very human thinking…that Flannery’s illness kept her “good” and now she has disappointed…that only one person survived…that Cookie has lost everything despite doing everything right, that guilt replaces grief, tethering certain people to place…”Hope. They are sustained by hope. Hope may have a positive reputation, but it has a vicious downside. If you have hope, you may be crushed”…that “Grace changes a person…And change is painful”... “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”

Napolitano’s research and understanding of O’Connor’s writing is demonstrated throughout the novel. However, the many passages revealing O’Connor’s deep faith and her later struggle were riveting, reflecting the connection between her faith, living with her illness and her writing…”she had used it to shape her life.”

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Jul 18, 2011 Kathy Hiester rated it 5 of 5 stars

A Good Hard Look is set in Milledgeville, Georgia in the 1960’s. The story starts the night before the wedding of the town’s most beautiful Southern Bell, Cookie Himmel and her affluent fiancé Melvin Whiteson. Cookie has her whole life planned out and Melvin thinks he is ready to begin life in Cookies debutante world that is until Melvin meets Flannery O’Connor, whose frank and informative descriptions of the people around her, has always offended Cookie. At the time of the wedding, Flannery, wh...more

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Jul 11, 2011 Lu rated it 5 of 5 stars

A Good Hard Look completely lived up to every single expectation I had. In fact, it might have exceeded them. I am always wary of historical fiction novels that feature real-life people. In the case of A Good Hard Look, that person is Flannery O’Connor. I’ve haven't read much by Flannery O'Connor, just a story here and there, but I’ve been intrigued by her for a while now. A Good Hard Look just made me more interested in O’Connor and her fiction.

The separate plots in this novel weave together be...more

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Jul 08, 2011 Craig Amason rated it 3 of 5 stars

Flannery O'Connor is a fairly recent historical figure with a fan base that has expanded rapidly in recent years. Using her home town as a setting and figuring her prominently in a novel is bound to raise the eyebrows of her biggest fans and some of her contemporaries in Milledgeville, Georgia. Having said that, Napolitano's novel is a good read. She is a good writer, the story is compelling, and the reader finishes the book feeling positive about O'Connor.

There are some moments in the book whe...more

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May 10, 2013 Sarah Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars

A Good Hard Look is set in the small southern town of Milledgeville, Georgia, the town where Flannery O'Connor spent most of her life, writing her novels and short stories on her peacock covered farm, Andalusia. This novel follows a fictional series of events in Flannery and her mother Regina's lives, as well as that of other Milledgeville residents including Melvin and Cookie Whiteson, Lona Waters, and Joe Treadle. There is considerable antagonism between Flannery and Cookie - from Flannery bec...more A Good Hard Look is set in the small southern town of Milledgeville, Georgia, the town where Flannery O'Connor spent most of her life, writing her novels and short stories on her peacock covered farm, Andalusia. This novel follows a fictional series of events in Flannery and her mother Regina's lives, as well as that of other Milledgeville residents including Melvin and Cookie Whiteson, Lona Waters, and Joe Treadle. There is considerable antagonism between Flannery and Cookie - from Flannery because Cookie is everything - beautiful, socially accomplished, and a wife and mother - that Flannery is not, and Cookie because she resents the stark illumination she uncovers in Flannery's writing. Additionally, the two women conflict because of Cookie's husband, Melvin, who becomes close friends with Flannery and secretly visits her on her farm.

This book was of particular interest to me because I took a seminar class on Flannery O'Connor during college and visited Milledgeville, Georgia and Andalusia farm as part of the class. I love reading works set in places where I have been, because I can picture the characters in the setting so vividly. Flanery is seen sitting on her front porch, writing in her bedroom, and on the grounds with her peacocks - places where I have stood. I love feeling so connected to a piece. Additionally, many of the themes that O'Connor wrote about are discussed in this - her Catholic faith, moments of grace, random and terrible tragedies.

Napolitano was courageous in writing about an actual author, and putting herself in Flannery's shoes. There is considerable meta-writing, moments when Flannery muses to herself on the state of her current writing and where it will come next. "Wrestling with the unwieldy shape and size of the novel had been like trying to envelop her mother's favorite stallion with wrapping paper and a bow. The novel had stomped its hooves and snorted hot air and bared its teeth and kicked her. Flannery had walked away exhausted and bruised, unsure whether she had done the job she'd set out to accomplish" (p.168). Additionally, other characters are moved by reading Flannery's work, including Melvin who thinks about "Hulga, in "Good Country People." She was like Flannery: crippled, living with her mother. When Hulga's wooden leg was stolen by a salesman, Melvin had to put the book down for an entire day" (p.85).

It was particularly bold to presume the author's intent, even within this fictional format - for example when Melvin tells Flannery that "All of your characters are left in some kind of pain," she responds by saying, "Maybe I left them on their way to a happy ending. [...] Did you ever think of that?" (p.85). Additionally, the whole tragic plotline of Lona and Joe and Melvin and Cookie's baby girl, Rose, is entirely fictional. It's interesting to see Napolitano add events to O'Connor's life that did not occur. I do like the way she managed to keep so much of Flannery's life historically accurate while at the same time spinning a fictional narrative that intertwined the lives of multiple Milledgeville residents.

I was struck by how much the first half of this novel reminded me of The Help. Although this novel does not tackle racial inequality, it is set in a small southern town during a similar time period, features a writer exposing secrets about the town, and individuals of different social status interacting. Cookie, although not malicious like Hilly in The Help, mirrored Hilly's character. Like Hilly, Cookie is seen as socially prominent and influential and is seen interacting with domestic help, in this case Lona, who has been hired to sew curtains, however she does so with a grace and ease that Hilly does not possess; "There was a shift in the air that she recognized. With a simple adjustment of her posture - a relaxation of her shoulders - Cookie was temporarily promoting Lona from domestic staff to friend and confidante. Lona had seen this frequently with her mother, a silent seamstress expected to go about her work unless a client decided she could offer a convenient perspective" (p.77). Like Hilly, Cookie is outraged by the writing published in her town, which she feels exposes the town's secrets, and tries to have Flannery's books removed from the local library. "She would move forward with her plan to have Flannery O'Connor's books removed from circulation. [...] She wanted her daughter to grow up in a town where she didn't have anything to fear. She didn't want Rose to censor herself out of concern that she might be forever trapped in print" (p.135).

I was disappointed with the plot in the aftermath of the twin tragedies that occur. The book got very sad, and somewhat implausible concerning certain character developments after that point. However, I do think Napolitano tied up Flannery's story line nicely. Additionally, I like that the peacocks that Flannery loved are a constant throughout the novel, from the first line to the last. The ironic combination of their beauty and elegance, side by side by their horrible screaming noise and ornery dispositions seem to mirror the both beauty and tragedy that occur for the residents of Milledgeville explored in this novel. (less)

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Sep 19, 2011 Erika Robuck rated it 4 of 5 stars

The novel takes place in O’Connor’s small hometown of Milledgeville, Georgia. There are three point of view characters in the book: Melvin, the wealthy New Yorker who’s relocated to marry Cookie, the town debutante, and Lona, their seamstress. Melvin, Cookie, and Lona are each stilted or stifled in some way, and are in search (consciously or unconsciously) of a way to make their lives matter.

Melvin is drawn to Flannery O’Connor for her bold honesty as an escape from the extreme state of politene...more The novel takes place in O’Connor’s small hometown of Milledgeville, Georgia. There are three point of view characters in the book: Melvin, the wealthy New Yorker who’s relocated to marry Cookie, the town debutante, and Lona, their seamstress. Melvin, Cookie, and Lona are each stilted or stifled in some way, and are in search (consciously or unconsciously) of a way to make their lives matter.

Melvin is drawn to Flannery O’Connor for her bold honesty as an escape from the extreme state of politeness in which he lives his life. Cookie hates Flannery for this very reason–the fact that she feels Flannery has her figured out with a single, penetrating glance. Lona has allowed herself to become dulled by her household routines and the joints she smokes behind her police officer husband’s back.

As the characters’ lives are revealed in small pieces and the choices they make pull them further away from realizing their full selves, impending disaster rumbles beneath the surface. When it erupts in a scene of shocking violence and tragedy, every chance of hope seems lost. The characters must take a “good hard look” at how they’ve contributed to their own destruction and what they can do to rebuild their lives.

I had to let A GOOD HARD LOOK sit and simmer for a day after reading the last page. It is a work of literary fiction and there is a complexity of theme that is revealed subtly but satisfactorily. I reread passages from the beginning and revisited O’Connor’s works I’d read years ago, and found that though Naplitano writes in a style all her own, O’Connor’s influence can be felt in the jarring violence, insights into the human condition, and hard won redemption.

Much about A GOOD HARD LOOK reminds me of Nancy Horan’s LOVING FRANK. Both novels begin with a quiet literary style with flawed characters of great depth, and build to shocking events that lead to dramatic conclusions. If you enjoyed LOVING FRANK, you’ll also enjoy A GOOD HARD LOOK.

To me, the mark of a good book is one that keeps the reader up late at night, inspires reflection and revisiting of the prose, and sends the reader searching for more information about the characters, subjects, or settings. A GOOD HARD LOOK does all of those things, and I know it will continue to resonate within me and provoke new ideas long after I’ve finished it.(less)

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Jul 11, 2011 Pamela Barrett rated it 5 of 5 stars

Ann Napolitano has written a novel that is as good and as uncomfortable as one of Flannery O’Connor’s stories. A Good Hard Look recreates Flannery’s hometown of Milledgeville, Georgia in the 1960’s. The story starts the night before the wedding of the town’s most beautiful Southern Bell, Cookie Himmel and her wealthy fiancé Melvin Whiteson. Cookie has everything planned; she knows what she wants in life, and Melvin thinks he is ready to start over in her world. Until he meets Flannery O’Connor,...more

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Jul 05, 2011 Sandie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-books, 20th-century-women, contemporary-lit, historical-fiction

Ann Napolitano’s novel takes A GOOD HARD LOOK at the seemingly innocent relationships, furtive secrets, unresolved jealousies and imagined slights that affect four families and culminate in a series of tragic incidents that occur on one fateful afternoon in the small town of Milledgeville, Georgia.

Napolitano has chosen writer Flannery O’Connor as the pivotal character in this fictionalized account and has presented a well developed supporting cast of vulnerable and unfulfilled individuals as ea...more

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Aug 18, 2011 Diane rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: a-favorite-read

A Good Hard Look is an amazing story that just might be my favorite book of 2011. The novel is a work of fiction, with author Flannery O'Connor as a main character during the last few years of her life. A life cut short at 39, from complication of Lupus.

The story opens in the 1960's, to the sounds of many screeching peacocks, which belonged to Flannery O'Connor. The author lives with her mother Regina on their farm Andalusia - Milledgeville, Georgia. It is the evening before the wedding of Cooki...more
A Good Hard Look is an amazing story that just might be my favorite book of 2011. The novel is a work of fiction, with author Flannery O'Connor as a main character during the last few years of her life. A life cut short at 39, from complication of Lupus.

The story opens in the 1960's, to the sounds of many screeching peacocks, which belonged to Flannery O'Connor. The author lives with her mother Regina on their farm Andalusia - Milledgeville, Georgia. It is the evening before the wedding of Cookie Himmel, a southern belle, and Melvin Whiteson, a wealthy New Yorker. The two met in New York, Melvin had recently lost his parents, and Cookie was never comfortable in the big city. In fact, Melvin was the only person who ever noticed her she claimed. The couple moving to Georgia, Cookie's hometown. The night before the wedding, and they are staying at Cookie's parent's home are they, along with most of the townspeople, are awakened in the middle of the night to the screaming peacocks. The peacocks are a foreshadowing of the bad things to come for some of the people in the novel.

"Flannery spent her afternoons motionless in her porch chair, watching the peacocks stalk the lawn. The birds soothed her; their bright colors and disdainful expressions were precisely what she wished to see. Flannery held her breath when a peacock opened his feathers into a blistering rainbow. She exhaled only when he shut it back down. A fierce blue fan was revealed, then an auburn one. The long feathers were decorated with moons and suns and peering eyes. These displays were more frequent than usual. The birds were generous with Flannery, seeming to sense her need for beauty. She dreamed about the night --they crowed and bullied and flaunted their coats across her consciousness."

Flannery and Cookie grew up together, their mothers were friends. Cookie is not fond of Flannery ever since Flannery made one of her Wise Blood characters out to resemble her. After the wedding, while Cookie keeps her distance from Flannery, and busies herself with ladies groups and community events, Melvin stops over at Flannery and Regina's house to pick up a wedding gift (she offers them a peacock). He begins to find her intriguing. Although Flannery is pretty ill at this point and sometimes has difficultly walking, she is determined and focused on the writing of her second novel. Melvin notices she seems to enjoy life more than anyone he has met. So very different from his wife Cookie, he finds reason to spend time with her, like teaching her to drive. Although the friendship is innocent, he keeps his visits secret from his wife, and when Cookie becomes pregnant, he tries to work on his relationship with his wife.

I loved the contrast between Cook and Flannery. Flannery is so open, blunt and honest, and very matter of fact -- "she is who she is". She tells Melvin that he is wasting his life and needs to learn how to live, and not just pass the hours each day. Cookie, is all about outward appearances, and as a result she feels very insecure around Flannery who she thinks is judging her. There are a few terrible things that happen is this novel, and this is where the title: A Good Hard Look, seems just perfect. It is at these times of crisis that each of the characters involved, (and there are a few more I haven't mentioned), must take " a good hard look" at what and why something sad has happened to them or a loved one. Each must search their souls to decide what is really important in life.

The author did a fantastic job of creating memorable characters and giving the reader a feel for what small town life is like --a place where everyone seems to know everything about everyone, and where secrets don't stay secrets forever. As a reader, I was able to feel empathy for the situations that occurred as a result of choices people made. The writing is beautiful, the novel is heartbreaking at times, but the characters are so very human. This book is a keeper - Highly recommended. (less)

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Feb 09, 2013 Janet Eshenroder rated it 2 of 5 stars

Actually, I do like Flannery O'Connor and her work. I started the first half (the "Good" section)thinking this might end up a modest three-star for the characters' interaction and growth, plus decent writing (minus points taken off for some clunky descriptive analogies). The second part (the "Hard") was what I might politely call an uncomfortable read: deaths with no rhyme or reason other than to destroy new-found happiness. I was not entertained watching survivors' lives fall apart, nor am I su...more

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Jan 01, 2012 Laurie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Well written and interesting and brave of the author to insert Flannery O'Connor into a novel. However she should have done her research a little more thoroughly: 1. Central Georgia is not flat, it has gently rolling hills and can actually be quite beautiful once you get away from the strip malls and bait shops. 2. Where were these women's maids? 3.Lake Sinclair did not exist when Flannery was a child so she could not have played there. 4. One cannot put one's arms around a magnolia tree--one ca...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

While I haven't read any of Flannery O'Connor's work, Ann Napolitano paints a three-dimensional portrait of this famous Southern author. She's not the focus of A Good Hard Look, but she's one of the critical characters. Cookie Himmel, who dislikes O'Connor, returns to her hometown of Milledgeville, Ga., to wed her rich fiancee, Melvin Whiteson, and settle down. Flannery has also returned to Milledgeville due to her worsening lupus. Out of spite, Flannery tells the happy couple that she'll give t...more

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Sep 08, 2011 Teresa Lukey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, i-learned-something, must-share-with-friends, my-absolute-fav-s, 2011-top-10, 5-stars

When I first started hearing about A good Hard Look, I thought I might not enjoy it so much since I didn't know a gosh darn thing about Flannery O'Connor. You notice I said that I "didn't know"? Well, that's because this book turned out to be a great primer on Flannery.

This story takes place in Milledgeville, Georgia, Flannery O'Connor's hometown. Flannery and her 40-some peacocks are at the center of the story throughout and, in large part, all the other relationships and stories are build arou...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Being a loyal Flannery O'Connor fan, I was eager to read this novel in which she is a character. Not disappointed. Napolitano portrays O'Connor exactly as I imagined. Brutally honest and direct, scarily intelligent and uncannily wise. Moreso on each as her death approached.

Life in small town Milledgeville I can relate to.

The first half of the book sets the stage for several strong characters and their exasperating life choices. I kept thinking, where is this going? Are these people crazy or wh...more

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Oct 20, 2011 Karolyn Sherwood rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am so happy I "met" Ann Napolitano through Twitter. If I hadn't, I don't think I would have purchased, read, and loved her book.

A Good Hard Look is set in Milledgeville, Georgia in the early 60s. Cookie, the protagonist is a "frenemy" of Flannery O'Connor. The two women "grew up together", but the story takes place when they are both in their 30s. The story is bittersweet and very engaging.

This is where I must confess that I have never read any of Flannery O'Connor's work. (I was not an Engli...more

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Aug 12, 2011 Kim Meyers rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow! I really loved this book. It is set in Milledgeville, Georgia, hometown of Southern writer Flannery O'Connor. Napolitano uses Flannery as a central character in the story, imaging how she might have interacted with her community. It is delightful. Flannery's "fictional" Milledgeville mirrors the gothic types of themes we find in her actual stories. I asked myself, if I wasn't a huge Flannery O'Connor fan, if I didn't know so much about her life and writings, would the book have been as good...more

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Sep 05, 2012 Vickilynn rated it 5 of 5 stars

I highly recommend this book. Especially, for fans of Flannery O'Connor. This book is successful due to the pristine plot clarity, and colorful characters crafted by Ann Napolitano. Every character is tragic, yet hopeful. Just as in Flannery's stories, redemption is always a possibility, but rarely complete.
For those of us who love Flannery, but have not delved into her life story, this book is fascinating, and sure to spurn further examination of Flannery's difficult life.
For those who are...more

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Jun 13, 2012 Janice rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, fiction-with-literay-figures

This book is set in Milledgeville, Georgia, the hometown of author Flannery O'Connor, in the 1960's, near the end of O'Connor's short life.
O'Connor figures as one of the central characters, and at first I wasn't sure I would like her; however by the end of the book, I found her a person I would like to learn more about. I have not read much by O'Connor, but do plan to do so. I especially liked the descriptions of Flannery's love and fascination with her peacocks. I don't know how much the rest o...more

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May 26, 2012 Betty rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: american

I got hooked by Ann Napolitano's writing from the first pages. A Good Hard Look is a novel inspired and featuring Flannery O'Connor. I studied O'Connor's work plus edited correspondence at university, plus I live in Jacksonville, FL, which is regarded by many to be more like Georgia than Florida, and Milledgeville GA is where Flannery O'Connor was raised and mostly lived. So the hook was set especially deep.

Mainly, tho, it's the writing that got to me. Take this paragraph:

"The air in the car, e...more

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Oct 03, 2011 Lindsey Stefan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Flannery O’Conner is obviously a huge literary presence, and Ms. Napolitano brings her to life beautifully without going overboard. Flannery becomes a sort of impetus for the rest of the characters – while parts of the novel are very much about her experiences and thoughts, much of the action is what others do as a result of Flannery (and her beloved peacocks). Because she is a strong presence, people either are drawn to her or they despise her.

The characters in the novel seem reminiscent of O’...more

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Oct 14, 2011 Michele rated it 4 of 5 stars

I heard about this book on NPR and was intrigued by the concept of having Flannery O'Connor as a character in a work of fiction. The story grabbed me right away with two of the main characters having their pre wedding night world rocked by screeching peacocks. All the characters are flawed but have much humanity. I wanted to slap them and root for them at the same time. This is one of the most thought provoking books I've read in a while about what it means to live a thoughtful, constructive lif...more

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Jul 25, 2011 MK Brunskill-Cowen rated it 5 of 5 stars

I did not want to read this book. It had been sitting on the shelf at work for months, but I didn't think I could handle yet another book about a deceased author. I was wrong. This book grabbed me from the beginning and wouldn't let go. Although Flannery O'Connor is a catalyst for the book, it's really about the people around her in her small Georgia town and the affect she had on them. People who had promise and talent, but who for whatever reason, preferred just to just go with the flow. Peopl...more

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About Ann Napolitano

Ann Napolitano is the author of the novels A Good Hard Look and Within Arm’s Reach. She received an MFA from New York University; she teaches fiction writing for New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies and for Gotham Writers’ Workshop. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

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“God is not here to be demanded of, begged from, or criticized. He hands out burdens to those who are strong enough to carry them, and I feel profoundly uncomfortable with the idea of lining up with the other invalids and asking for mine to be alleviated.” — 6 people liked it

“Hope may have a positive reputation, but it has a vicious downside. If you have hope, you can be crushed.” — 3 people liked it

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