Charms for the Easy Life

by Kaye Gibbons

A family without men, the Birches live gloriously offbeat lives in the lush, green backwoods of North Carolina. Radiant, headstrong Sophia and her shy, brilliant daughter, Margaret, possess powerful charms to ward off loneliness, despair, and the human misery that often beats a path to their door. And they are protected by the eccentric wisdom and muscular love of the remarkable matriarch Charlie Kate, a solid, uncompromising, self-taught healer who treats everything from boils to broken bones to broken hearts.

Sophia, Margaret, and Charlie Kate find strength in a time when women almost always depended on men, and their bond deepens as each one experiences love and loss during World War II. Charms for the Easy Life is a passionate, luminous, and exhilarating story about embracing what life has to offer, even if it means finding it in unconventional ways.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Book Club, Southern, Adult Fiction, Adult, Contemporary

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Kaye Gibbons is an American novelist. Her first novel, Ellen Foster (1987), received the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, a Special Citation from the Ernest Hemingway Foundation and the Louis D. Rubin, Jr. Prize in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Gibbons is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and two of her books, Ellen Foster and A Virtuous Woman, were selected for Oprah's Book Club in 1998.
Gibbons was born in Nash County, North Carolina, and went to Rocky Mount Senior High School. She attended North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, studying American and English literature. She has three daughters.
Gibbons has bipolar disorder and notes that she is extremely creative during her manic phases, in which she believes that everything is instrumented by a "real magic". Ellen Foster was written during one such phase.
On November 2, 2008, Gibbons was arrested on prescription drug fraud charges. According to authorities, she was taken into custody while trying to pick up a fraudulent prescription for the painkiller hydrocodone. She was sentenced to a 90-day suspended sentence, 2 years probation, and a $300 fine.

Reviews

[Will Byrnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charms is a family saga. The narrator, Margaret Birch, tells of her mother, Sophia, her grandmother, Charlie Kate, her no-good father, her failed grandfather and a broad cast of characters that inhabit the southern towns of her upbringing. It oozes warmth. I was reminded of The Secret Life of Bees. They are of a cloth. The women of this tale, like the men in Lake Wobegon are all strong. The matriarch, Charlie Kate, becomes a local legend with her broad knowledge of healing and her tenacity at getting the right things done. She is an icon of courage. Sophia is not quite the legend that Charlie Kate is, but she does well enough, surviving a bad, impulsive marriage to make a life and raise her daughter, the narrator, Margaret.


Kaye Gibbons -from WN.com

The language of this novel is lush. Gibbons breathes life into her characters, and is able to structure a plot. However, I found the male characters thin, which I suppose is understandable in a novel that has such a focus on women. Charlie Kate’s husband is a willow next to her oak. Sophia’s husband is a cad, quickly disposed of. Her boyfriend, Mister Baines, never felt to me to be more than a shadow, and on the other end of the spectrum, the man of Margaret’s dreams, Tom, is such a dream, rich, brave, handsome, cool, as to make one wonder if there might be a large S on his underclothing. But that's quibbling. This is a great novel.


An interesting piece on Gibbons - Novelist Gibbons Continues Uphill Battle by Martha Waggoner

[raheleh mansoor · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's amazingly easy to read and grabs you right away. In fact, it feels so effortless (but it's the kind of writing that you know was slaved over, honed and perfected), that I questioned how I could have gotten quite so much from it.

Two lovely ideas from this book:

The grandmother, when she's young, gets this lucky charm, that's supposed to bring her an easy life. Her husband leaves her, tries to con her, she works as a doctor in the early 1900's when infection and poverty are rampant--but she is blessed with a wonderful daughter and granddaughter---they're all three smart, good-looking, admirable, love each other deeply and admired.

The grandmother gives the charm to her granddaughter (fully believing in its worth as a lucky charm) as a gift to her granddaughter's future husband and tells her to tell him "It's a charm for an easy life. Just depends what your definition of easy is."

I love that. The relativity of life and the difference perspective makes about how you feel about your life.

There's another line I really like too where the grandaughter says of her grandmother "I admired her energetic mind and her muscular soul." Isn't that a great thing to have--a muscular soul? One that's strong, flexible, resilient?

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

After My Antonia and Here Be Dragons I wanted a light read...some chick-lit if you will. This book sounded intriguing. Set in North Carolina during WWII it tells the story of three generations of unconventional Southern women: Charlie Kate, Sophia her daughter, and Margaret her granddaughter...the narrator. Charlie Kate is a backwoods mid-wife/healer and the adventures/medical conditions that she encounters are unique to say the least. This is a book of strong women who depend on one another rather than men during the trying times in their lives and the amazing bond between the three of them. Margaret's love and admiration for her grandmother shines through the book.

My problems with the book: Is there a plot? It is mainly just anecdotes of the amazing Charlie Kate...the only fully developed character in the book. Sophia is just a shadowy character and even Margaret lacks depth. Problem #2: What was with all of the suicides at the start of the book...they had no relevance to the rest of the book...they were just weird and intriguing. Problem #3: Margaret, our narrator, was an absolute bore. Are we really expected to believe that the hottest catch in town from the best family falls for her after she stares at his back in the hospital...NOPE! I just kept waiting for Margaret to stop following her grandmother around to get interesting but she never did. Too bad. In my opinion this book had a lot going for it at the beginning but then the author dropped the ball and let it slowly tank.

My rating: OK...but disappointing in many ways.

[Lori Keeton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Kaye Gibbons. This is my third of her novels I’ve read. I love the way she creates her young protagonists and I love a coming-of-age story. In this charming novel, we meet 3 generations of strong women (in 1940s North Carolina): Charlie Kate the outspoken, self-taught healer/physician and matriarch; her daughter, Sophia, whose husband has left her; and her daughter, Margaret. They are extremely well-read and one of my favorite things about reading this book were all of the references to some of the best classic works.

Charlie Kate is an unforgettable character who provides some advice about relationships with men: that they are always going to leave. She’s always giving her two cents worth of advice as one who is in charge and very certain of all that she does.

I have read two books a week for thirty years. I am satisfied that I know everything.

I would have loved living with these women who loved to read and spend time together. Sophia and Margaret would go on house calls to sick patients as the assistants. They got to see a lot of the odd and unusual people in the community.

In our house, the point of reading and learning was neither to impress outsiders nor to get a job or a husband, nothing like that. It had nothing to do with anybody but the three of us. When a good book was in the house the place fairly vibrated.

Margaret narrates the shared lives of these women in which we see their self-reliance, cynicism and contempt for the very rich and the grossly poor. This is filled with compassion, humor and some great grandmotherly wisdom! A must read for lovers of southern quirky female characters!!!

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I have read two books a week for thirty years. I am satisfied that I know everything."
So says Charlie Kate Birch, and she's not shy about sharing her knowledge, whether you want to hear it or not. Charlie Kate is an early-1900s North Carolina midwife, herbalist, and self-styled doctor (with no official credentials). She's feisty, outspoken, and somewhat manipulative, but also very civic-minded and generous. You can't help liking her, even if she is a little too full of herself. Her daughter Sophia and granddaughter Margaret live in her orbit and are mostly grateful for the direction she gives their lives as a threesome.

Kay Gibbons' writing is highly polished and carefully restrained--a quality I'm coming to appreciate more and more for its rarity. She also has a sly gift for humor that sneaks up on you. One of the characters will make a seemingly dry observation, but if you circle back and read it again, you catch the subtlety and burst out laughing. For example, when her mother Sophia asks God for help in a hurry, Margaret notes: "He no doubt knocked Himself out getting to her, as she was such a trophy among his creations."

This is a quaint, charming, and at times hilarious story. I really liked the portrayal of these three highly intelligent, book-loving Southern women. They learn from their mistakes and don't take any guff from men.


***If you want your own easy-life charm, you'll need to find the hind foot of a white graveyard rabbit caught at midnight, under the full moon, by a cross-eyed Negro woman who has been married seven times.***

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I should write a review on this, but I am too lazy. I loved it though. So much so that I turned back to page 1 and started over right after finishing. This was better than Ellen Foster and that was pretty good.

[Vasha7 · Rating 2 out of 5]

It belongs to a genre that I'm not generally fond of, southern small-town stories of generational ties with eccentric characters; as the front cover blurb has it, "as invigorating as sarsaparilla and as soothing as lemon-balm tea". They always seem to feature women who are not only independent and self-achievers, but staunchly anti-racist throughout the whole 20th century. Still, Charms for the Easy Life is incontestably well-written, and it pretty much steers clear of the traps of sentimentality and "quirkiness". My reason for being disappointed in it is the one-note portrayals of the characters. The constant center of attention is the narrator's grandmother, formidable Charlie Kate Birch, healer of sicknesses and straightener-out of minds; we are told over and over how everyone respects her after she contradicts them, how she sees people not treating each other right and gives them a piece of her mind; except for her husband leaving her, she is very nearly invincible, and her victories are always easy. Above all, she's concerned to get her daughter and granddaughter happily married off. She is shadowed by the narrator, her meek granddaughter Margaret, who never does anything except what Charlie Kate says, never wants anything but what the matriarch wants, and is totally convinced that her life will be arranged for her: and lo, an absolutely perfect husband turns up out of the blue, and the courtship goes without a hitch with the grandmother directing it. I thought that Margaret would grow into independence over the course of the book, but no, when her grandmother dies she's more helpless than ever, and will evidently be guided both by people around her and by Charlie Kate's memory. Really, the title is apt, all three generations truly lead a charmed life, things are easy for them, and only Charlie Kate seems remotely to have earned it.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't ask me what it is about Kaye Gibbons. She just has one of those voices that speaks to me from somewhere out of my ancestral southern past, I guess. Some smooth, smokey drawl that captures my attention, and holds it, drawing it into the hearts of her characters, so that her stories for me are far, far more than the sum of their parts. They are all women's stories, and stories of adversity, with a southern flavor that is so familiar to me, it truly seems to call out from my own distant past. They are American stories that seem to resonate with many people other than myself, so there must be more to it than the pale blue eyes of my great grandmother and her twin, that seem to look out at me from the pages and their voices that whisper as these stories progress.
I love her. I collect her books. I read them over and over. She's like a friend.

[planetkimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charms for the Easy Life is a mesmerizing fictional biography/autobiography of three generations of women living unconventional lives in North Carolina against the backdrop of the World Wars.

The book revolves around the life of the narrator's grandmother, a self-taught healer who appears to lead a bit of a charmed life. Her life is not "charmed" in any sort of mystical sense, it's more like she is so self-possessed that a comparatively uncertain world bends itself to her will.

I enjoyed the glimpses of history that are presented in the book - the folklore, competition for rations, and descriptions of trends in fashion and culture. (I also enjoyed the references to places that I have spent time in.)

The only reason I'm not giving this book five stars it that it seems to be more of a collection of very rich character studies than a novel. There is a plot, but the book is more about how the characters react to events than the events themselves. The rest of the world fades into the background and the narration focuses with intense clarity on the emotional waves that the characters generate and reflect back into the world. Also, the grandmother's skill at getting her way goes a bit beyond plausibility and sets her up as a bit of a fantastical character - a sort of early 20th century southern feminist superhero. (Albeit a very, very cool one!)

[Rachel M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book swept me into its fabric from the first page, mainly because the main character, Charlie Kate, is so unconventional and the stories of her turn-of-the-century life in the South are so shockingly humorous, tragic and honest.

We all hope to know someone (or be someone) a little like Charlie Kate: always knowing exactly what to do in any situation, dauntlessly moving forward and dictating the way our world will be. Like a magnet, her character attracts people to her, and whether she is truly right or wrong in her unlicensed medical practices, she generally always prospers.

The one inconsistency I find is that the narrator (Charlie Kate's granddaughter) spends the entire novel praising and admiring her grandmother's courage, strong will and independence, and in the end decides her own future merely by asking Charlie Kate's opinion and meekly following through on it. While Charlie Kate's persona is highly developed, her daughter and granddaughter are comparatively shadowy figures, revolving as satellites to the greater personality.

It was a very enjoyable read, and as comforting as sitting in the kitchen while a storyteller spins colorful tales, but I ended wondering what the overall point was.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored Kaye Gibbons Ellen Foster, and very much enjoyed Sights Unseen too. Charms for the Easy Life, first published in 1993, is the author's fourth novel. Alice Hoffman, whose writing and stories I find have the same lovely intelligent but easygoing prose as Gibbons', writes that the novel 'is filled with lively humour, compassion and intimacy'.

Charms for the Easy Life tells the story of three generations of 'fiery' women, living without men: Charlie Kate Birch, a 'self-proclaimed doctor who treats everything from leprosy to lovesickness with her roots and herbs', her daughter Sophia, 'who has inherited her mother's wisdom and will and applies them to her desire to rule the world around her and land the man of her choice', and granddaughter Margaret, 'whose struggle towards adulthood is complicated by World War II'. Margaret is the novel's captivating narrator, and lives with her mother and grandmother in the 'lush, green backwoods' of North Carolina.

As is usual with first person perspective-driven novels, we learn about the other characters through Margaret's portrayal of them. Charlie Kate, particularly, is strong and forward-thinking: 'My grandmother was to be remembered for many achievements, from campaigning for in-school vaccinations to raising money to buy prosthetics for veterans of the world war, but in the Beale Street area of Raleigh she lives in the memory of an old few as the first woman anybody knew with the courage not only to possess a toilet but to use it.' Sophia is more of a shadowy figure at times, largely absent from much of the prose.

The Birch family have historically been plagued by problems. Their family has a remarkably high suicide rate, which is detailed in oddly beautiful prose in the first chapter. Margaret tells us, of her remaining family members: 'They threatened to kill themselves in the river all the time. They used the threat in arguments with each other. They said the words without thinking... But they didn;t go in the river, because the river was life to them, life all surging and all crashing into white foam on river rocks they had known their whole lives, and the thought of throwing themselves into a familiar current and banging choked and goggle-eyed against rocks they had stood on and courted on and fished and dreamed on, and sat in the sun and dared to open their blouses and nurse their babies on, this was not something they could do. They would walk fifty miles and jump in some other person's river, but not their own.' As is evident from this description, Gibbons creates such a vivid sense of place, and her writing feels continuously effortless.

The novel has been slotted so well into the looming threat of war; Gibbons startlingly describes conditions at the time, and is particularly involved with those lives lived without privilege, or in dire poverty. Myriad details ground Charms for the Easy Life nicely into history, with references to popular culture, and mentions every now and again of wider conflict. Gibbons also notes how important small changes, or transformations, in the world are to her protagonists, and how these changes translate into their own selves. This is particularly poignant when she writes about ageing: '[Sophia] was showing signs of loneliness. She had recently begun the process of resigning herself to the slide from beautiful lady to handsome older woman, adjusting her lipstick color from fire-engine red to brick, exchanging bright beads for pearls and stylish platform soles for pumps. And by "process," I mean just that: she had not fully committed her body to middle age yet.'

Thoughtful in its outlook, and with a fascinating and tender story about non-conformist women at its heart, Charms for the Easy Life is a novel which I would definitely recommend. The relationships drawn here have so much complexity about them, and the story takes directions which I did not expect. I shall close this review with a wonderful quote from the novel: 'If my grandmother could've populated the world, all the people would've been women, and they all would've been just like her.'

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read period piece in the Raleigh region of N.C. during the first 4 to 5 decades of the 20th century.

Ironic that I seem to be having an entire slew of dozen books or more all in the 1930's right now. And I can't remember a time when so many read happened to fall right then. But possibly it is because WWII fiction has exploded into so many directions? Well, I like Art Deco much better. LOL!

Regardless, this is a character driven read and the grandmother is legend. The doctor who never went to medical school until after she has practiced for 40 years. And her daughter and granddaughter are well carved. Excellent composite read for the periods of lack in the small towns there, as well.

Ironic too that I just read some non-fiction upon eugenics and medical practice of those 1900-1950 periods in real law/ court case angles. Doctors did far, far more individual practice and methods of "better" then. They did even later when it was more regulated.

This was written before the blame games got so central stage to all perceptions. But at any time or period I would have enjoyed the pragmatism and moral values of Charlie Kate and her offspring.

I'm also fully on her page into the century since- of knowing a man in various situations of every ilk and not just for the parties- before. And even after congeniality- it is best to keep him waiting.

I think she could have gotten the finger attached too, if the knife hadn't been serrated that did the damage. She never seemed to mind that she had controlled and dictated the offspring's lives either. Or second guessed her rights to do so, even once. That today would be probably given some personality disorder nomenclature. And it would have been dithered about in pondering for 45 pages.

Excellent and entertaining read. Mr. Baines was worth the wait.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lovely reread. I adore Gibbons' novels. Her writing and her characters are wonderful and the epitome of Southern lit. If this book went on for 300 more pages, I wouldn't have been disappointed.

This is the story of 3 generations of strong women. The grandmother is a DR, a healer, a dentist, a midwife - she does everything and knows everything, so she thinks and says. Her granddaughter narrates the book so well. I wish Gibbons would write again.

[SheriC · Rating 1 out of 5]

I went 5 minutes beyond my self-imposed minimum 20 minutes (for audiobooks) before DNFing. That was 25 minutes of exposition as the main character explains her family's backstory, and we had only gotten as far as her mother's childhood. Yawn.

Audiobook version, borrowed from my local public library via Overdrive. Kate Fleming's performance was fine. I think she did her best with the material she had to work with.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. I really liked Margaret, the story she told, and the way it was written, and her grandmother was just fantastic.

[Rosemary Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

What makes this book such a gem, other than Gibbons' masterful pen, is that the characters are exquisitely present in their lives. You do not see this in the life of a woman in this century. Charlie Kate, Sophia and Margaret - each is living the life they want to live. - not terribly complicated lives, but luxuriously meaningful and purposeful lives.

I did not want the story to end. (I want to hear from grandmother every day!) I'm going to read it again just so I can jot down some of grandmother's wittiest and most dazzling observations. The book is a hoot from start to finish, but it is much, much more than just funny. It makes you look back. It makes you find the warmest corners of your childhood - the moments without a goal or objective - the beautiful, flawed, hilarious, simple, poignant moments that fill a heart. I really liked that.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was on a reading list that I'm trying to get through, so that is how this came in to my radar. It was a pleasant little read. I haven't read this author before, and found myself enjoying the character development, especially Grandma. I think the author nailed some of the sticky family dynamics. Some of this was a little cliche, but it was a sweet story.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed every word and I love picking up historical tidbits. One was that Duke University outlawed jitterbugging during the early forties, not for moral reasons, but because too many students were ending up in the infirmary with dislocated shoulders.

[Michelle E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely, easygoing book. Hated to see it end.

[Meghan Furey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would say 4 stars but initially 3.5, because it took some time to pick up. But I cannot underrate a good generational family bond book! The relationship between the grandmother and Margaret is something special and the grandmother is a badass!

[B.D. Gates · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a way that Southern writers haunt you, the way they stay in your head long after the story is told. Even when you don't realize it, you're turning the characters and the tale over and around, looking at it this way and that, surprising yourself with revelations that were not plainly made and spoon-fed to you, but were put there for you to find over time, like secret presents under your pillow, by the author.

Kaye Gibbons writes like that.

And maybe it's because I live right square in the middle of where the story takes place and I know the roads, the towns, the people that she writes about, that I take a certain possessiveness of them. They are not my people, I wasn't born here, but I've lived here long enough to know that what is written is true of them, just as much now as it was then.

There is no varnish, it's all real, from the root medicine being practiced to the society debuts. "Charms for the Easy Life" tells the story of three women--mother, daughter, and granddaughter--living in the rural farmlands of Eastern North Carolina in the interlude between world wars. Their stories are not easy. The disappointments that come, usually at the hands of men, are universal and the kind that leave most women heartbroken and devastated, but the family matriarch and healer, Charlie Kate Birch, a living legend from Raleigh to the coast, has 'cures' for those ills amongst all her others, doled out in measures that are sometimes brewed long and strong to reach their full and potent lasting effects.

In the banding together of the three women, every woman's story is told, it is a narrative that details the coming-of-age of Margaret, the mid-life realizations of Sophia, and the emboldened actions of a 'seasoned' elder woman, Charlie Kate. The story is, in turns, odd and funny and heartwarming and maddening in its telling, but Life is all those things as well.

Reading this was time well-spent and thoroughly enjoyed.

And as for 'charms'--we all have them, they are what we put our faith in, the things we count on to protect us and, most of the time, they are not the things we carry in our pockets.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fitting that I read this book over the International Women's Day weekend. Although narrated by Margaret, the star and central character is her grandmother Charlie Kate. What a woman! Never back down; never settle for just any man; never give in to pressure; and always believe your decisions are right were her guiding principles, and the ones she tried to instill in her daughter and granddaughter. I couldn't stop reading about this turn of the century self-taught healer, midwife, surgeon; and every page rewarded me with some new eye-opening reason to be in awe of Charlie Kate. The title refers to a charm given to her by a lynched man she revived by rubbing his throat until he could take a breath. This happened early in her career as an unpapered doctor, and throughout the rest of her life she faced challenge after challenge, both professional and personal, fearlessly. She guided the lives of her daughter and granddaughter firmly, only letting up when she felt they were on their right tracks. A woman long before her time, she was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

[Savannah Hendricks · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up to 5
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. However, the ending felt flat to me and unexpected at the conclusion of the story. Overall I loved the novel and the wonderful writing. I just felt the ending deserved more than it was given.
I can't wait to discuss this novel in The Old Book Book Club in July, as it's our first pick of the club! I'm excited to dive more into how others rated the book and why and want to expand on my review.
The first book I read of Kaye Gibbons was Ellen Foster, many years ago. Her writing style is pure quality and something that is hard to find in novels now-a-days. I look forward to catching up on the rest of the novels of Ms. Gibbons that I've missed over the years.

[Mabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I had seen the cable TV movie with Gena Rowlands, and that made me want to read it. It's takes place in Raleigh, NC in the 1940's, which is where I grew up, so it had a special appeal to me. It is a good window on that era. The main character is a woman doctor who I THINK is probably based on a real doctor named Annie Louise Wilkerson who lived in Raleigh from 1914 to 2005 and practiced medicine for 55 years. The book is the story of a woman doctor, her daughter, and her granddaughter who live in the same house. It is fiction; Dr. Wilkerson never married or had children. I think it is quite an engaging story and would recommend it to just about any reader.

[MomToKippy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this author. I love the tone she uses in telling her story. The characters are warm and dimensional and quirky. The author also has a wonderful sense of humor. She tells the story of three generations of women at the turn of the century up until about 1945. They are intelligent and feisty and the theme of country doctor/herbalist is fascinating. Truly charming. I will definitely read more from this author.

[Donna Everhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's not one thing Kaye Gibbons has written that I didn't love. I read this book years ago, yet re-reading seemed just as fresh and new as before. You can't help but love all three of the women in this story - particularly the grandmother who was plain spoken, sharp witted, and a total riot. She's the relative every family has, the one person who minces no words, and commands respect even when she insults you up one side and down the other.

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I re-read this book over the weekend, and was so pleased to find myself loving at as much as I did the first go-round, ten years ago. I've always had a special place in my heart for certain Southern writers and Kaye Gibbons is among them; this is my favorite of her books. I think I love this so much because the main characters are strong, independent, feisty women. What's not to like?

[Denise Underwood-Hannagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I buy this book whenever I see it at a used book store because I love it and want everyone else to as well! I just reread it after, I don’t know, 35 years?, and My feelings have not changed. Strong women, strong matriarch, strong generational family ties. I wish I were more like Charlie Kate!

[Mommalibrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three generations of strong intelligent women. Very easy to read. Amusing at times

[Kiki · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful, tragic, and (of course) charming