Her Kind of Want

by Jennifer S. Davis

Set mainly in the small towns of Alabama, the stories in Her Kind of Want ache with the relentless longing of the poor, struggling, usually discarded southern women who tell us their lives—lives that seem to revolve around men whose only presence is their absence. Bebe, Luna, Melly, Little Hula, Dena. These are just a few of the women we meet in Jennifer Davis's award-winning collection. Women who married too fast, had children too young, and drink too much. Yet beneath their unpolished exteriors, these women are flesh and blood, and their wants and needs are as severe and deep as any. Davis's characters relate their stories in voices as complex and raw as their southern environment. Each tale may sound slightly familiar—an unwanted pregnancy, a fast car flying down a country road—but Davis moves beyond the familiar stories of the rural South to expose the gaps that connect these women, creating startlingly real and vibrant characters. Although often bleak and sometimes disturbing, Her Kind of Want is a celebration of southern people, their perseverance, their spirit, and their determination to make the ugly beautiful.

Genres: Short Stories

152 pages, Paperback

First published August 21, 2002

Reviews

[Ryan Sanderson]

Goodreads really needs to allow for .5's in their rating system.

[Eden]

This collection of short stories is a masterpiece. Each of the stories was written with such explicit and generous detail that it was such a pleasure to read. Jennifer Davis definitely knows everything that is going on in each of the worlds that she had created. The characters were so well developed that I felt like I knew them each personally for years. I didn't want the stories to end.

[sologdin]

alabamian author collects shorts regarding rural women. perspective is committed, progressive. perhaps a touch of the sectarian and the mystical. rhetorically sophisticated. iowa award is plausible. negative kirkus review is philistine.

[Heather]

Admittedly I like some of the stories in this brief collection a lot better than others, but wow Jennifer Davis is so talented.