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The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed: A Novel
That whole summer is as clear and as still in my head as the corsage under the glass bell in Mrs. Tate's parlor. Even now, summers and summers since, I can remember everything. I remember the day summer started.
So begins Lee Smith's disarming first novel, written while she was an undergraduate at Hollins College and a winner in 1968 of the Book-of-the-Month Club Writing Fellowship Contest. The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed, set in a small southern town at midcentury, tells the story of nine-year-old Susan, for whom the first bright, carefree, promise-filled days of summer slowly evolve into a time of innocence lost and childhood illusions shattered. Susan's mother is vain and frivolous, her father loving but distracted, and her sister, several years her senior, is coping with the first stirrings of serious love. Susan's circle of young friends is joined for the summer by Eugene, the frail, strange nephew of a neighbor. As the months pass, Susan witnesses the disintegration of her parents' marriage and learns from Eugene the cruelty people sometimes resort to.
Lyrical and fanciful in spite of its dark moments, The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed puts on ample display the remarkable talent that has made Lee Smith one of our most popular writers of fiction.
So begins Lee Smith's disarming first novel, written while she was an undergraduate at Hollins College and a winner in 1968 of the Book-of-the-Month Club Writing Fellowship Contest. The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed, set in a small southern town at midcentury, tells the story of nine-year-old Susan, for whom the first bright, carefree, promise-filled days of summer slowly evolve into a time of innocence lost and childhood illusions shattered. Susan's mother is vain and frivolous, her father loving but distracted, and her sister, several years her senior, is coping with the first stirrings of serious love. Susan's circle of young friends is joined for the summer by Eugene, the frail, strange nephew of a neighbor. As the months pass, Susan witnesses the disintegration of her parents' marriage and learns from Eugene the cruelty people sometimes resort to.
Lyrical and fanciful in spite of its dark moments, The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed puts on ample display the remarkable talent that has made Lee Smith one of our most popular writers of fiction.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
About the author
Lee Smith
43 books1,001 followersGrowing up in the Appalachian mountains of southwestern Virginia, nine-year-old Lee Smith was already writing--and selling, for a nickel apiece--stories about her neighbors in the coal boomtown of Grundy and the nearby isolated "hollers." Since 1968, she has published eleven novels, as well as three collections of short stories, and has received many writing awards.
The sense of place infusing her novels reveals her insight into and empathy for the people and culture of Appalachia. Lee Smith was born in 1944 in Grundy, Virginia, a small coal-mining town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, not 10 miles from the Kentucky border. The Smith home sat on Main Street, and the Levisa River ran just behind it. Her mother, Virginia, was a college graduate who had come to Grundy to teach school.
Her father, Ernest, a native of the area, operated a dime store. And it was in that store that Smith's training as a writer began. Through a peephole in the ceiling of the store, Smith would watch and listen to the shoppers, paying close attention to the details of how they talked and dressed and what they said.
"I didn't know any writers," Smith says, "[but] I grew up in the midst of people just talking and talking and talking and telling these stories. My Uncle Vern, who was in the legislature, was a famous storyteller, as were others, including my dad. It was very local. I mean, my mother could make a story out of anything; she'd go to the grocery store and come home with a story."
Smith describes herself as a "deeply weird" child. She was an insatiable reader. When she was 9 or 10, she wrote her first story, about Adlai Stevenson and Jane Russell heading out west together to become Mormons--and embodying the very same themes, Smith says, that concern her even today. "You know, religion and flight, staying in one place or not staying, containment or flight--and religion." From Lee Smith's official website.
The sense of place infusing her novels reveals her insight into and empathy for the people and culture of Appalachia. Lee Smith was born in 1944 in Grundy, Virginia, a small coal-mining town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, not 10 miles from the Kentucky border. The Smith home sat on Main Street, and the Levisa River ran just behind it. Her mother, Virginia, was a college graduate who had come to Grundy to teach school.
Her father, Ernest, a native of the area, operated a dime store. And it was in that store that Smith's training as a writer began. Through a peephole in the ceiling of the store, Smith would watch and listen to the shoppers, paying close attention to the details of how they talked and dressed and what they said.
"I didn't know any writers," Smith says, "[but] I grew up in the midst of people just talking and talking and talking and telling these stories. My Uncle Vern, who was in the legislature, was a famous storyteller, as were others, including my dad. It was very local. I mean, my mother could make a story out of anything; she'd go to the grocery store and come home with a story."
Smith describes herself as a "deeply weird" child. She was an insatiable reader. When she was 9 or 10, she wrote her first story, about Adlai Stevenson and Jane Russell heading out west together to become Mormons--and embodying the very same themes, Smith says, that concern her even today. "You know, religion and flight, staying in one place or not staying, containment or flight--and religion." From Lee Smith's official website.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
October 30, 2007
This is my least favorite Lee Smith book. Having said that, it's better than about 80% of what's out there. It's obviously a first novel, but even here you can see her taste for the odd and her beautiful phrasings and expressive writing. I did enjoy it, but not nearly as much as some of her later works.
For me it was a good thing...it took her down from her pedestal for me! :-)
For me it was a good thing...it took her down from her pedestal for me! :-)
August 17, 2011
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Date: 1968
Number of Pages: 180
Geographical Setting: Small southern town
Time Period: 1950s or 60s
Three Words or Phrases Best Describing this Book: Child narrator, nostalgic, haunting
Plot Summary: Susan is a typical 9-year-old girl living in a small town in the mid-20th century. She has an active imagination and loves the freedom summer brings. When Eugene, the nephew of one of the neighbors, comes to stay for the summer, Susan brings him into her circle of friends. Morally devoid Eugene quickly takes on a leadership role in the group and, with the help of an imaginary figure, influences the children to do things they never would have thought of on their own. These events transpire against a backdrop of a family falling apart – despite Susan’s efforts to maintain a rosy picture in which her beautiful mother is the Queen of their castle home, her sophisticated sister is the Princess, and a man called the Baron is part of her mother’s Court (her father is not the King because, well, he’s just Daddy). Events of that summer leave Susan struggling to hold onto her innocence, and readers going along for the ride as they see through Susan’s narration to what’s truly going on.
Appeal Characteristics: Bittersweet, closely observed, conversational, detailed small-town setting, disturbing, familiar characters, family-centered, straightforward, thought-provoking, unhurried
Personal Notes: I found certain parts of this book to be a bit dated, including some language, references, and characterizations, but that’s probably to be expected from a book that was first published more than 40 years ago. Given that, I found it interesting to look at what has changed since the time Susan was growing up, as well as some of the universal experiences that have stayed the same. I liked how Susan’s narration did seem authentic to a girl of her age, and how she observed (though didn’t necessarily always understand) more that was going on around her than the adults expected. The later scenes involving Eugene were definitely disturbing and haunting, in that we never really see how (or if) the aftermath of his actions is dealt with. While I didn’t connect with the story/period enough to love the book, it was a quick and moving read.
Publication Date: 1968
Number of Pages: 180
Geographical Setting: Small southern town
Time Period: 1950s or 60s
Three Words or Phrases Best Describing this Book: Child narrator, nostalgic, haunting
Plot Summary: Susan is a typical 9-year-old girl living in a small town in the mid-20th century. She has an active imagination and loves the freedom summer brings. When Eugene, the nephew of one of the neighbors, comes to stay for the summer, Susan brings him into her circle of friends. Morally devoid Eugene quickly takes on a leadership role in the group and, with the help of an imaginary figure, influences the children to do things they never would have thought of on their own. These events transpire against a backdrop of a family falling apart – despite Susan’s efforts to maintain a rosy picture in which her beautiful mother is the Queen of their castle home, her sophisticated sister is the Princess, and a man called the Baron is part of her mother’s Court (her father is not the King because, well, he’s just Daddy). Events of that summer leave Susan struggling to hold onto her innocence, and readers going along for the ride as they see through Susan’s narration to what’s truly going on.
Appeal Characteristics: Bittersweet, closely observed, conversational, detailed small-town setting, disturbing, familiar characters, family-centered, straightforward, thought-provoking, unhurried
Personal Notes: I found certain parts of this book to be a bit dated, including some language, references, and characterizations, but that’s probably to be expected from a book that was first published more than 40 years ago. Given that, I found it interesting to look at what has changed since the time Susan was growing up, as well as some of the universal experiences that have stayed the same. I liked how Susan’s narration did seem authentic to a girl of her age, and how she observed (though didn’t necessarily always understand) more that was going on around her than the adults expected. The later scenes involving Eugene were definitely disturbing and haunting, in that we never really see how (or if) the aftermath of his actions is dealt with. While I didn’t connect with the story/period enough to love the book, it was a quick and moving read.
July 29, 2011
I remember reading the first few pages of this book sitting in a shopping mall rotunda. It was the year I graduated from high school and I was just delighted with the main character. I still find myself thinking about this book at times. I haven't read other books by Lee Smith, but do think I will give one of her more recent books a try.
December 13, 2007
This well-written book is told from the point of view of a troubled, helpess nine year old. The conclusion is realistic,brutal and disheartening.
March 22, 2017
I listened to this audible book only when in my car alone so it took me much longer to finish than is ordinary for me. The person reading the book was excellent.
The story was at times scary and the subject matter was disturbing to me so I am going to say more about this story than is usual.
A group of children (pre-teens) in a 1960's neighborhood are influenced by a young boy that has come to visit his aunt for the summer. He and his invisible friend lead them to destroy property, introduces sexual ideas and worst of all raped one of the girls. The rape is not addressed at all except the boy was sent back home. And the girl thought she should be beaten. I believe this is partly due to the fact that the book was written in 1968(?). There were several other harsh events that happened to this little girl that summer. I do think that she was deeply affected mentally but the book ended somewhat abruptly. I was left with quite a few questions. Still, I can see where reading this book would alert parents to possible signs of danger for their children.
The story was at times scary and the subject matter was disturbing to me so I am going to say more about this story than is usual.
A group of children (pre-teens) in a 1960's neighborhood are influenced by a young boy that has come to visit his aunt for the summer. He and his invisible friend lead them to destroy property, introduces sexual ideas and worst of all raped one of the girls. The rape is not addressed at all except the boy was sent back home. And the girl thought she should be beaten. I believe this is partly due to the fact that the book was written in 1968(?). There were several other harsh events that happened to this little girl that summer. I do think that she was deeply affected mentally but the book ended somewhat abruptly. I was left with quite a few questions. Still, I can see where reading this book would alert parents to possible signs of danger for their children.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 17, 2022
This starts as a sweet story about a 9 year old on summer vacation. The author is a lyrical writer, and beautifully captures descriptions of the world through the eyes of a child. For example, the dogbushes are hydrangeas, but because the little girl once found a lost dog under them, they are now called dogbushes. Throughout the book her parents separate and she finds solace in the neighborhood kids. Until a sexual assault happens.
Funny and tender at times, shocking and confusing at others.
Funny and tender at times, shocking and confusing at others.
January 19, 2020
Lee Smith knows how to pull at my heart strings...and then completely rip them out. Susan's perspective of the world is sweet and whimsical. I found a kindred spirit in her as I was always daydreaming, exploring, and creating my own little havens in the woods when I was her age. A tender, heartbreaking story.
TW for sexual assault/rape
TW for sexual assault/rape
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2024
BOOK REPORT
I guess if you’re gonna essentially experience a fever dream about the loss of childhood innocence over one memorable summer, it’s best to do so at the hands of Lee Smith whilst sitting outside in 93-degree weather as yet another Labor Day weekend fast approaches.
Here’s a link to an actual review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I guess if you’re gonna essentially experience a fever dream about the loss of childhood innocence over one memorable summer, it’s best to do so at the hands of Lee Smith whilst sitting outside in 93-degree weather as yet another Labor Day weekend fast approaches.
Here’s a link to an actual review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
January 27, 2021
This was a dark little book that left me feeling unsettled and unsatisfied. You can definitely tell it was the authors first novel, but you can also tell she has talent. Awkward and clunky on one page...beautiful writing on the next.
July 17, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed Fair and Tender Ladies, (it was a 5 star) This was my second title I have ever read by Lee Smith.
It was OK, I got the gist., little girl playing outside in the south, her imagination runs wild, and there you have it.
It was OK, I got the gist., little girl playing outside in the south, her imagination runs wild, and there you have it.
September 24, 2023
Ugh! This is dreadfully written supposedly in a nine-year old’s voice although she sounds like a five-year old. Slow and uninteresting, the plot and characters just never got off the ground for me. This is the author’s first book and it reads like a self published attempt.
October 9, 2025
The writing was good. Most of the story was good. And the characters were pretty good. But don’t refer to Eugene as merely a dark part of the story. He was horrible through and through and his presence was a torment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 12, 2020
Odd little book.
February 16, 2021
Audio book.
October 20, 2021
Good short read. Compelling coming of age story. Sad.
August 29, 2023
a book that would be banned
Fascinating story. Lots of food for thought. So much that could be discussed. A poignant reminder that childhood is not easy.
Fascinating story. Lots of food for thought. So much that could be discussed. A poignant reminder that childhood is not easy.
December 25, 2023
One of Lee Smith's earliest efforts. She got better and better as her novels progressed. I'm more a fan of her short story collections, however. Worth reading.
June 26, 2012
The first of Lee Smith's novels truly does remind one of the writing of Harper Lee and Eudora Welty etc.
The languid summer days in the south in the 30's to 40's had started just right for nine year old Susan. A mother she called "the Queen" and her sister Betty "the princess" all lived in the "castle" with her. Her father was living in the basement and his and the Queen's marriage was on the rocks.
The rain begins and is relentless throughout the beginning of summer. There is a new kid in town for the summer; Eugene. Eugene has come from the city to stay with an aunt. A very troubled; sick in the mind boy.
Susan has little relationship with her mother. A beautiful, distant troubled woman. Elsie Mae, "the help" as the princess calls her; fills the role of mother, friend for Susan.
An imaginary world built around her life and the dogbushes in the front yard was her hiding place.
"I walked down the hill, past the white picnic table and the swings that we were too big for by then, to the dogbushes which grew all along the fence at the very back of our yard. I went on my hands and knees, way under the nicest one to the place where I always sat. I looked out between the green leaves. I could see everything but nothing could see me. I laughed some, all to myself. The air smelled growing, and sweet because the dogbushes were in bloom. They had pink flowers that only bloomed in the summertime.
The flowers didn't look like dogs or anything. The dogbushes I called dogbushes because one time when I was seven and one month I found a dog under the ones along the middle of the fence. It was half collie and half something else, and it was very sick."
"I quit looking at the Tate's house and put my ear down to the grass to listen. In summer you can hear all kinds of things under the ground if you know right where to put your head. A long time ago I used to think that there was a factory under there where the fairies were making good things for the world, but then I knew better when I got old. It the earth animals, like worms, and all the squirming roots that you can hear."
The languid summer days in the south in the 30's to 40's had started just right for nine year old Susan. A mother she called "the Queen" and her sister Betty "the princess" all lived in the "castle" with her. Her father was living in the basement and his and the Queen's marriage was on the rocks.
The rain begins and is relentless throughout the beginning of summer. There is a new kid in town for the summer; Eugene. Eugene has come from the city to stay with an aunt. A very troubled; sick in the mind boy.
Susan has little relationship with her mother. A beautiful, distant troubled woman. Elsie Mae, "the help" as the princess calls her; fills the role of mother, friend for Susan.
An imaginary world built around her life and the dogbushes in the front yard was her hiding place.
"I walked down the hill, past the white picnic table and the swings that we were too big for by then, to the dogbushes which grew all along the fence at the very back of our yard. I went on my hands and knees, way under the nicest one to the place where I always sat. I looked out between the green leaves. I could see everything but nothing could see me. I laughed some, all to myself. The air smelled growing, and sweet because the dogbushes were in bloom. They had pink flowers that only bloomed in the summertime.
The flowers didn't look like dogs or anything. The dogbushes I called dogbushes because one time when I was seven and one month I found a dog under the ones along the middle of the fence. It was half collie and half something else, and it was very sick."
"I quit looking at the Tate's house and put my ear down to the grass to listen. In summer you can hear all kinds of things under the ground if you know right where to put your head. A long time ago I used to think that there was a factory under there where the fairies were making good things for the world, but then I knew better when I got old. It the earth animals, like worms, and all the squirming roots that you can hear."
March 23, 2010
I really looked forward to reading this book by Lee Smith, who is so well regarded as a southern writer. I came away after I finished with two great skepticisms--over the most important parts of the plot.
(Spoilers ahead).
1. I didn't believe that the little boy, Eugene, really raped Susan. This was just too convenient. I really analyzed later why I didn't believe it, as I wanted to understand that as a writer. And it related to convenience and the lack of character development of Eugene. He was just a scary little boy who dropped in from nowhere. If I had known a little bit more about him, I might have believed this, the most critical part of the book.
2. I didn't believe that the adults apparently didn't believe that Susan had been raped, and that if they did, they didn't tell her father or take her to the doctor. It just didn't ring true to me. I couldn't possibly believe it.
Lee Smith wrote this as a college student. It won awards and has always been acclaimed. I thought some parts were great--she certainly got into the head of the child--Susan--the girls imagination was fabulous; the Iron Lung part was really good.
After finishing the book last night, I watched an episode of CSI this morning while riding my exercise bike. I thought about the book as the CSI story unfolded--a young boy was killed. In the show, the point was made that parents nowadays keep a perimeter much closer to home for their children to stay within than they used to. I had to think of the children in the book, in the 1960's, wandering around their neighborhood with their parents having no idea what they were up to.
(Spoilers ahead).
1. I didn't believe that the little boy, Eugene, really raped Susan. This was just too convenient. I really analyzed later why I didn't believe it, as I wanted to understand that as a writer. And it related to convenience and the lack of character development of Eugene. He was just a scary little boy who dropped in from nowhere. If I had known a little bit more about him, I might have believed this, the most critical part of the book.
2. I didn't believe that the adults apparently didn't believe that Susan had been raped, and that if they did, they didn't tell her father or take her to the doctor. It just didn't ring true to me. I couldn't possibly believe it.
Lee Smith wrote this as a college student. It won awards and has always been acclaimed. I thought some parts were great--she certainly got into the head of the child--Susan--the girls imagination was fabulous; the Iron Lung part was really good.
After finishing the book last night, I watched an episode of CSI this morning while riding my exercise bike. I thought about the book as the CSI story unfolded--a young boy was killed. In the show, the point was made that parents nowadays keep a perimeter much closer to home for their children to stay within than they used to. I had to think of the children in the book, in the 1960's, wandering around their neighborhood with their parents having no idea what they were up to.
May 4, 2008
dolly parton recommended this book in an interview she did about her Imagination Library literacy project for kids. she says you just can't get enough books into the hands of children, and frankly, i agree, and then the interviewer asked her what she was reading or if she had any recommendations, and she mentioned Lee Smith.
The last day the dogbushes bloomed is a first-person narrative of an nine-year old girl, Susan, in the summertime. Susan has an active fantasy life, and a secret club with the local children. They torment the neighbors, they torment each other, they have a collective imaginary friend, and a series of tests to prove their loyalty to the club. These activities are really only the setting for Susan's loss of innocence over the course of the summer. I started the summer in her active fantasy life where she inhabits a castle, where her mother is the Queen, her sister is the Princess, and her father is not the King. The fantasy of royalty implies Susan's emotional distance.
By the end of the summer, everything has changed. Her older sister gets pinned, then engaged, and is no longer a Princess. A flood washes away Susan's secret hiding place. The Queen abandons the family. One of the neighbor's kittens dies. The gardener dies. Ultimately, the story carries the message of the things that you let go of, the things that go away, and the things that stay with you. By the end of the summer, the flowers are all dying, and we leave Susan on the last day the dogbushes bloomed.
The last day the dogbushes bloomed is a first-person narrative of an nine-year old girl, Susan, in the summertime. Susan has an active fantasy life, and a secret club with the local children. They torment the neighbors, they torment each other, they have a collective imaginary friend, and a series of tests to prove their loyalty to the club. These activities are really only the setting for Susan's loss of innocence over the course of the summer. I started the summer in her active fantasy life where she inhabits a castle, where her mother is the Queen, her sister is the Princess, and her father is not the King. The fantasy of royalty implies Susan's emotional distance.
By the end of the summer, everything has changed. Her older sister gets pinned, then engaged, and is no longer a Princess. A flood washes away Susan's secret hiding place. The Queen abandons the family. One of the neighbor's kittens dies. The gardener dies. Ultimately, the story carries the message of the things that you let go of, the things that go away, and the things that stay with you. By the end of the summer, the flowers are all dying, and we leave Susan on the last day the dogbushes bloomed.
Read
December 8, 2023This is Lee Smith's first novel, and it's SUCH a first novel. It's clearly stripped from Lee Smith's own childhood (and I am not guessing -- she specifically mentions this in her memoir Dimestore, that she mined her childhood as much as possible for this book, and needing some additional conflict added some philandering and drinking. This caused her mother to refuse to sell it in the family store and to try to keep everyone in the valley from reading it too. This puts Lee Smith in the very well established tradition of a Southern writer severing bonds with family and hometown to get some minor literary fame). It's about childhood, it's about love and growing up, and it's about 150 pages.
The novel takes place in a small town Appalachian Virginia town modeled after Lee Smith's own Grundy, Virginia. Our narrator is young, sees her older sister as a princess, her mother as the Queen, and herself as not much of anybody. But she watches. She watches, she learns, and she repeats. She's funny and precocious, she's acerbic at times, and she's shrewd.
The novel takes place in a small town Appalachian Virginia town modeled after Lee Smith's own Grundy, Virginia. Our narrator is young, sees her older sister as a princess, her mother as the Queen, and herself as not much of anybody. But she watches. She watches, she learns, and she repeats. She's funny and precocious, she's acerbic at times, and she's shrewd.
January 10, 2015
I found this book at a thrift shop and thought the cover looked interesting.
As I read the story, it made me feel almost melancholy because Susan's childhood innocence made me miss my own childhood. The way she forms friendships with the creatures at the wading area, wondering where they go after the flood, was so heartbreakingly sweet.
It's told from the 1st-person perspective of Susan, a young girl, as she tries to enjoy her summer. After meeting Eugene, a boy who's visiting from out-of-town, her innocent summer days are ruined.
Susan has to deal with several disturbing events in the story - some more awful than others. I liked this book, but I felt like the ending didn't give much closure. I had too many questions left.
As I read the story, it made me feel almost melancholy because Susan's childhood innocence made me miss my own childhood. The way she forms friendships with the creatures at the wading area, wondering where they go after the flood, was so heartbreakingly sweet.
It's told from the 1st-person perspective of Susan, a young girl, as she tries to enjoy her summer. After meeting Eugene, a boy who's visiting from out-of-town, her innocent summer days are ruined.
Susan has to deal with several disturbing events in the story - some more awful than others. I liked this book, but I felt like the ending didn't give much closure. I had too many questions left.
Read
July 6, 2016There are some books you just don't know how to rate. On the positive side, this book is well written (of course it is--it's by Lee Smith!) and the main character is likable (though a bit hazy on reality). On the negative side, it has some really annoying characters and a couple of vividly unpleasant scenes I could have lived without reading. Someone reviewed it as being akin to To Kill a Mockingbird. I don't think so--not unless Scout was living in a self-created dream world and Dill was a nasty evil child in need of therapy.
January 25, 2015
I'm an admirer of the author and didn't realize this was her first novel, written while still an undergrad. Although it held my interest enough to finish it, it didn't flow for me. As a first novel written at a tender age, though, you certainly wouldn't be surprised that she more than fulfilled the promise shown here.
January 28, 2008
Begins as an innocent book about a young girl growing up in the south. Subtly the author weaves in undertones about the complications of family relationships and growing up. Very disturbing innuedos regarding the summer guest of the neighbor.
July 16, 2014
A friend read this for one of her book clubs and thought I would enjoy it. I did. It is sort of written in the manner of To Kill a Mockingbird in the idea that you see things from how Scout (in this case Susan) saw things.
June 9, 2016
Three and a half stars
I wanted to start with the first book by Lee Smith so that's what I did. This book was weirdly poetic and disturbing. I really don't know any other way to describe it. I do know that I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author.
I wanted to start with the first book by Lee Smith so that's what I did. This book was weirdly poetic and disturbing. I really don't know any other way to describe it. I do know that I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author.
November 5, 2016
I've been a big fan of Lee Smith books for many years. Can't say I fund this, her debut novel written in 1968 if I remember correctly, by any means indicative of her gift as a writer and storyteller.
January 1, 2008
this is the book that got me into Lee Smith. I havent read it in a long time, and seeing the title makes me want to read it again.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews