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Rules for Being Dead
It's the late 1960s in McKinney, Texas. At the downtown theater and the local drive-in, movies—James Bond, My Fair Lady, Alfie, and Dr. Zhivago—feed the dreams and obsessions of a ten-year-old Clarke who loves Audrey, Elvis, his family, and the handsome boy in the projector booth. Then Clarke loses his beloved mother, and no one will tell him how she died. No one will tell her either. She is floating above the trees and movie screens of McKinney, trapped between life and death, searching for a glimpse of her final moments on this earth. Clarke must find the shattering truth, which haunts this darkly humorous and incredibly moving novel.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 12, 2020
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July 17, 2020[Image TK]
Many thanks to Blair Books for the free copy in exchange for an honest review
I read this book in my latest booktube video which you can click here to watch it or skip to 0:29 to here my thoughts on this book.
Written mini-review
Putting this one down because it’s not my cup of tea. If you’re looking for a good historical fiction/ghost mystery, I recommend checking this one out
| Goodreads | Blog | Pinterest | LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram
Many thanks to Blair Books for the free copy in exchange for an honest review
I read this book in my latest booktube video which you can click here to watch it or skip to 0:29 to here my thoughts on this book.
Written mini-review
Putting this one down because it’s not my cup of tea. If you’re looking for a good historical fiction/ghost mystery, I recommend checking this one out
| Goodreads | Blog | Pinterest | LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram
August 3, 2020
In reading, there are some titles that catch your eye, and then there are some titles that cause your head to spin around and grab the book. Rules for Being Dead is just an exceptional title, and the story within lives up to the title. There’s also the cover of this book that had me waxing nostalgic, with the black and white picture of a drive-in in probably the 1960s, the setting of the story. There’s an old black and white movie quality to the photograph and an orange sky, with a streak of what looks like either a streak in an old film reel or the last streaks of daylight, which is when the drive-in movies were gearing up to start. For me, it brought up a metaphor of riding off into the sunset, which is basically what the drive-in movies have done, along with the 60’s and all of its glorious movies and changes. For a reader who grew up in the 60’s the pull of all these elements is irresistible, and for those without the nostalgic connection, the book has lots of other pull. Who doesn’t wonder about the afterlife, or if there even is one? Can you still see your loved ones you left behind? Can they see you, hear you, feel you? And, how do young children, who already must handle the challenges of growing up, survive the loss of a parent? How does the other parent provide for the emotional needs of children in this situation, especially when that parent isn’t a great role model and struggling himself? What if the trust is so damaged between the children and the living parent that there may be no way back? Families all have their own dynamics, even when dysfunctional, and when that includes a dead, hovering ghost of a mother, it can get interesting, and in Rules for Being Dead, it does indeed.
Ten-year-old Clarke Perkins of McKinney, Texas is a big movie fan, and has enjoyed going to the downtown theater with his seven-year-old brother Corey and their mother Creola. Watching the first-run of the 1960s greats, such as My Fair Lady, 007, and Alfie give Clarke a view of the best and worst of adulthood, but he loves the adventure of them and loves sharing it with his mother. However, his mother is found dead in her bed, and Clarke suddenly must figure out life for himself and his little brother. His father is ill-equipped to deal with a child whose knowledge far extends its understanding, and father Frank has a drinking problem threatening to destroy what’s left of his family and himself. Added to the fray is the unknown surrounding Creola’s death for her sons. No one seems interested in telling them how their mother died, so Clarke decides it is up to him to uncover the secrets and person responsible. As he gathers his evidence against the person whom he deems guilty, it is often fueled by the imagination of a young boy with a rich history of big-screen storytelling.
Hovering over all the live drama is Creola, dead as a doornail, but caught in an In-between where she can see and hear everything going on with those living from her vantage points of the tree across the street, the rooftops, and the school where she taught. But they can’t see or hear Creola, so she is as adrift as Clarke in trying to gain some answers, such as how she died. She must piece together fuzzy memories of her last days and death, too. She is cognizant of the unhappiness of her marriage, and as she lingers betwixt and between, more of her husband’s unsavory behavior comes back to her, along with memories of some strange behavior from herself.
The story is told from multiple viewpoints, with the majority being in alternating chapters of Clarke and his mother. Clarke continues to attend the movies with Corey and carry out his investigation into his mother’s death, while he is dealing with his own growing pains. Creola takes readers through her life, her marriage, and her mothering to discover how she ended up dead. Frank, too, has interjecting chapters in which the reader is given a look at this seemingly irredeemable father who causes so much heartache. Two supporting characters are also given a voice, helping to fill in the gaps of the narrative, and readers will find their stories compelling in themselves as well as adding to that of Creola’s and her family’s. Maurice is the school janitor at the elementary school where Creola taught, and he had been joining her and the boys in the movie theater to watch the films for which they all had a passion. He’s also a gay man living in a small Texas town in the 1960s, which expands the scope of the story and the meaning of family. Betty is Frank’s mistress, who isn’t someone you’d expect to be a mistress, which in turn broadens the reader’s view of what kind of woman would be involved in an extra-marital affair and why. Both Maurice and Betty are sources for important information and insight.
Kim Powers is a master at character creation and development. While showing the strengths and the flaws of all the characters, he is encouraging readers to take a deeper look at not only the characters, but at the people around them and themselves. What is forgivable in a person? What motivates them, scares them, and gives them hope? Rules for Being Dead is that dark sort of comedy and mystery that while making fun of one of our darkest fears, the afterlife, gives us the incentive to look at the life lived now.
Rules for Being Dead is easily going to be a favorite book this year for many readers. It's certainly earned a place on my Favorites List and a book I will heartily recommend. Kim Powers brings his diverse writing skills to a story that has a voice like few others. In fact, I'm going to recommend something I don't think I ever have before for a book, and something I intend to follow through on myself. I think readers would thoroughly enjoy reading Rules for Being Dead first and then, when it comes out in audio, listening to it. Again, there is such amazing voice in the story that it should be lingered over thusly.
For full disclosure purposes, I received an advanced reader's copy of Rules for Being Dead, and my review reflects my honest reaction and opinion.
Ten-year-old Clarke Perkins of McKinney, Texas is a big movie fan, and has enjoyed going to the downtown theater with his seven-year-old brother Corey and their mother Creola. Watching the first-run of the 1960s greats, such as My Fair Lady, 007, and Alfie give Clarke a view of the best and worst of adulthood, but he loves the adventure of them and loves sharing it with his mother. However, his mother is found dead in her bed, and Clarke suddenly must figure out life for himself and his little brother. His father is ill-equipped to deal with a child whose knowledge far extends its understanding, and father Frank has a drinking problem threatening to destroy what’s left of his family and himself. Added to the fray is the unknown surrounding Creola’s death for her sons. No one seems interested in telling them how their mother died, so Clarke decides it is up to him to uncover the secrets and person responsible. As he gathers his evidence against the person whom he deems guilty, it is often fueled by the imagination of a young boy with a rich history of big-screen storytelling.
Hovering over all the live drama is Creola, dead as a doornail, but caught in an In-between where she can see and hear everything going on with those living from her vantage points of the tree across the street, the rooftops, and the school where she taught. But they can’t see or hear Creola, so she is as adrift as Clarke in trying to gain some answers, such as how she died. She must piece together fuzzy memories of her last days and death, too. She is cognizant of the unhappiness of her marriage, and as she lingers betwixt and between, more of her husband’s unsavory behavior comes back to her, along with memories of some strange behavior from herself.
The story is told from multiple viewpoints, with the majority being in alternating chapters of Clarke and his mother. Clarke continues to attend the movies with Corey and carry out his investigation into his mother’s death, while he is dealing with his own growing pains. Creola takes readers through her life, her marriage, and her mothering to discover how she ended up dead. Frank, too, has interjecting chapters in which the reader is given a look at this seemingly irredeemable father who causes so much heartache. Two supporting characters are also given a voice, helping to fill in the gaps of the narrative, and readers will find their stories compelling in themselves as well as adding to that of Creola’s and her family’s. Maurice is the school janitor at the elementary school where Creola taught, and he had been joining her and the boys in the movie theater to watch the films for which they all had a passion. He’s also a gay man living in a small Texas town in the 1960s, which expands the scope of the story and the meaning of family. Betty is Frank’s mistress, who isn’t someone you’d expect to be a mistress, which in turn broadens the reader’s view of what kind of woman would be involved in an extra-marital affair and why. Both Maurice and Betty are sources for important information and insight.
Kim Powers is a master at character creation and development. While showing the strengths and the flaws of all the characters, he is encouraging readers to take a deeper look at not only the characters, but at the people around them and themselves. What is forgivable in a person? What motivates them, scares them, and gives them hope? Rules for Being Dead is that dark sort of comedy and mystery that while making fun of one of our darkest fears, the afterlife, gives us the incentive to look at the life lived now.
Rules for Being Dead is easily going to be a favorite book this year for many readers. It's certainly earned a place on my Favorites List and a book I will heartily recommend. Kim Powers brings his diverse writing skills to a story that has a voice like few others. In fact, I'm going to recommend something I don't think I ever have before for a book, and something I intend to follow through on myself. I think readers would thoroughly enjoy reading Rules for Being Dead first and then, when it comes out in audio, listening to it. Again, there is such amazing voice in the story that it should be lingered over thusly.
For full disclosure purposes, I received an advanced reader's copy of Rules for Being Dead, and my review reflects my honest reaction and opinion.
October 3, 2022
I read this for one of my reading groups. I liked some parts, disliked others. It is a small town family story set in late 1960s Texas.
Mother dies in mysterious circumstances. Her two young sons they to figure it out. Mom floats above watching them, hence the title.
The kids were great characters but I think the author tried too hard to do too much.
Mother dies in mysterious circumstances. Her two young sons they to figure it out. Mom floats above watching them, hence the title.
The kids were great characters but I think the author tried too hard to do too much.
February 3, 2023
Life (and death) and all its mysteries come into play as Clarke tries to understand and avenge his mother’s death at 44 when Clarke is just 10-years-old. His mother, Creola, watches over her two boys from what appears to be limbo/purgatory while growing wings and trying to remember how she died.
I had lots of theories about what happened to Creola, but that’s beside the point. Rules for Being Dead is really about finding our way through pain while learning how to trust, how to heal, who to love and how to let go. Overall, this was an enjoyable blend of a soft mystery, coming of age tale and family drama.
I had lots of theories about what happened to Creola, but that’s beside the point. Rules for Being Dead is really about finding our way through pain while learning how to trust, how to heal, who to love and how to let go. Overall, this was an enjoyable blend of a soft mystery, coming of age tale and family drama.
November 20, 2020
The cover attracted me immediately. I’m a huge cinema buff and who can resist the retro appeal of a drive in movie theater. And then some key description words jumped out also, like ghosts, coming of age story, mystery and, of course, movies. So I figured it might be worth checking out, even having never heard of the author.
So first thing’s first…the book does deliver on every aspect of the description. It is a coming of age story featuring a ghost who doesn’t know how it got dead (mystery) and tons of movies. It’s the sort of thing that would normally be exactly right for me and yet there was something here, something about the tone maybe, that didn’t really sing to me.
It was a fine read and I enjoyed it enough, but didn’t love it. Maybe it’s an acquired taste thing, much like Texas, where it takes place. Maybe the nostalgia was too tweaked up, the book takes place in 1966 and 1967. Maybe it was too quaint in some respects for me. I’m not sure. Probably the combination of things.
The basic plot is this…a schoolteacher, wife and a mother of two young boys, Creola at 44 years of age finds herself dead with no idea how she got this way. And then through alternating POVs, mainly Creola and her oldest son, 10 year old Clarke, we get to slowly figure out how this came to be. Creola mostly floats around trying to remember things and occasionally peeking into the future, Clarke is doing basic detective work as much as a 10 year old can, albeit one that takes on a distinct danish prince tint, as in avenge the dead parent, kill the murderous surviving one. Clarke is obviously the soul of the story, a precocious, well read, gay (yeah, in the 1960s, yeah, in Texas) kid with acting ambitions and a profound love of cinema. The surrounding characters are all well developed and occasionally geta. Narrative turn, but it’s mostly Clarke and Creola show. Movies are featured heavily, nostalgically, but this isn’t a book about movies. It’s just the way the characters temporarily get out of their own sad small lives, by dreaming the silver screen dreams.
In the end you do find out how Creola got dead, though a year after the fact and in a somewhat convoluted (like why didn’t someone mention something sooner, wtf, it’s a small town) kind of way.
Overall, it’s a nice enough book, it hits high notes for a certain kind of slow and sunbeaten southern fried nostalgia, without being too Texish? Texanish? It featured some good character writing and good, credible representation of a family in crisis. It tried to go dark at times. The way you'd think a story about a mysteriously dead woman would. It had a coherent plot. It just didn’t engage me all the way. Wasn’t quite what was expected/wanted and left something to be desired. But it read quickly enough and entertained sufficiently.
So first thing’s first…the book does deliver on every aspect of the description. It is a coming of age story featuring a ghost who doesn’t know how it got dead (mystery) and tons of movies. It’s the sort of thing that would normally be exactly right for me and yet there was something here, something about the tone maybe, that didn’t really sing to me.
It was a fine read and I enjoyed it enough, but didn’t love it. Maybe it’s an acquired taste thing, much like Texas, where it takes place. Maybe the nostalgia was too tweaked up, the book takes place in 1966 and 1967. Maybe it was too quaint in some respects for me. I’m not sure. Probably the combination of things.
The basic plot is this…a schoolteacher, wife and a mother of two young boys, Creola at 44 years of age finds herself dead with no idea how she got this way. And then through alternating POVs, mainly Creola and her oldest son, 10 year old Clarke, we get to slowly figure out how this came to be. Creola mostly floats around trying to remember things and occasionally peeking into the future, Clarke is doing basic detective work as much as a 10 year old can, albeit one that takes on a distinct danish prince tint, as in avenge the dead parent, kill the murderous surviving one. Clarke is obviously the soul of the story, a precocious, well read, gay (yeah, in the 1960s, yeah, in Texas) kid with acting ambitions and a profound love of cinema. The surrounding characters are all well developed and occasionally geta. Narrative turn, but it’s mostly Clarke and Creola show. Movies are featured heavily, nostalgically, but this isn’t a book about movies. It’s just the way the characters temporarily get out of their own sad small lives, by dreaming the silver screen dreams.
In the end you do find out how Creola got dead, though a year after the fact and in a somewhat convoluted (like why didn’t someone mention something sooner, wtf, it’s a small town) kind of way.
Overall, it’s a nice enough book, it hits high notes for a certain kind of slow and sunbeaten southern fried nostalgia, without being too Texish? Texanish? It featured some good character writing and good, credible representation of a family in crisis. It tried to go dark at times. The way you'd think a story about a mysteriously dead woman would. It had a coherent plot. It just didn’t engage me all the way. Wasn’t quite what was expected/wanted and left something to be desired. But it read quickly enough and entertained sufficiently.
September 17, 2020
4.5...Beautifully written book. A story about the pain of loss, fear, redemption , forgiveness but ultimately love.
April 11, 2020
This was a wonderful story. It's sad and quite heart breaking at times, but I really loved the characters. It is a kind of mystery. Told from multiples POVs, the ghost of a forlorn dead mother, a child struggling to come to terms with the loss of his mother, and various other.
The writing is beautiful. I loved the way the author characterized the mind of Clarke. He is a beautiful little boy struggling to use his love of movies to help him solve the mystery surrounding his mothers. death.
Often we don't tell children things... often they figure them out for themselves. This remarkable story is the best of both.
The writing is beautiful. I loved the way the author characterized the mind of Clarke. He is a beautiful little boy struggling to use his love of movies to help him solve the mystery surrounding his mothers. death.
Often we don't tell children things... often they figure them out for themselves. This remarkable story is the best of both.
May 4, 2022
I'll just say that the plot description on the dust jacket was compelling, but the execution was bland. The payoff for the "mystery" (as it were) was stupendously disappointing. The characters weren't compelling and the plot was thin. Overall disappointed in a dull read.
August 23, 2020
Kim Powers combines pain and humor in this coming of age story in Texas in the 60s. Told in multiple points of view, he examines love and heartache in a family beset with tragedy. Highly recommend this book. It will make you chuckle and shed a tear.
September 11, 2020
This is a highly compelling novel that defies genre. At first glance, it’s so easy to think of it as another “Lovely Bones” story, but it incorporates different twists and turns. I especially love the attention to detail related to pop culture and the mores of the era.
February 1, 2022
Ten year old Clarke tries to put all the missing pieces of his mothers untimely death together while dealing with his father’s alcoholism and new girlfriend, his little brother’s strange behaviour and his own movie obsession. Equally heartwarming and heart wrenching.
July 15, 2022
A fun, quick read with an interesting perspective and alternating POV. Definitely recommend for anyone craving an easygoing fiction book!
October 21, 2021
Mostly it's a sad review of a way of life, and slowly backtracking to find out the reason for the mother's death, which is always sad for the children left behind. The "mystery " comes together at the end and has a good if also sad, resolution
December 31, 2020
Rules for Being Dead by Kim Powers is a story about a boy named Clarke Perkins and his journey to find meaning in life and feel whole after the mysterious death of his mother. The story takes place in a small town in Texas during the 1960’s. Clarke is a young and precocious boy who spends his days at the local movie theater, the Ritz, watching several films such as James Bond, Dr. Zhivago, The Pied Piper, Alfie, and My Fair Lady. When Clarke’s mother mysteriously passes away, Clarke is left with unanswered questions and clues that he strives to piece together to understand how his beloved mother died. His mother, Creola Perkins, who is now a ghost, is trapped between life and death and floats above the trees and movie screens. She follows Clarke, his brother Corey, L.E. (the father), and others as they try to make sense as to what happened.
I found this book to be equal parts humorous, moving, and endearing. Powers has constructed a compelling story about the enduring power of love and loss. I loved Clarke because he possessed the courageous power of wanting to face the truth of his mother’s death no matter the cost. He is not afraid to share his honest opinions and live out his truth as he comes of age in this tale. This story also shares perspectives from several different characters who all provide you with a glimpse into the lives of the Perkins family providing you with all the joyful and heartbreaking moments of a family trying to make sense of a tragic and life altering event. Each character provides the reader with a piece of the puzzle to help find the answer to this question: What really happened to Creola Perkins?
I loved the book’s references to movies created in the 1960’s! I found myself singing along to several tunes I had grown up with as well as discovered new titles I never even heard of. This book is a great summer read and left me at the end wanting more!
Thank you Kim Powers and Blair Publisher for sending me this copy! I loved this story and will always be thinking about Clarke and his family!
I found this book to be equal parts humorous, moving, and endearing. Powers has constructed a compelling story about the enduring power of love and loss. I loved Clarke because he possessed the courageous power of wanting to face the truth of his mother’s death no matter the cost. He is not afraid to share his honest opinions and live out his truth as he comes of age in this tale. This story also shares perspectives from several different characters who all provide you with a glimpse into the lives of the Perkins family providing you with all the joyful and heartbreaking moments of a family trying to make sense of a tragic and life altering event. Each character provides the reader with a piece of the puzzle to help find the answer to this question: What really happened to Creola Perkins?
I loved the book’s references to movies created in the 1960’s! I found myself singing along to several tunes I had grown up with as well as discovered new titles I never even heard of. This book is a great summer read and left me at the end wanting more!
Thank you Kim Powers and Blair Publisher for sending me this copy! I loved this story and will always be thinking about Clarke and his family!
October 19, 2020
Here I am in the minority again. The story started off well and very interesting. Clarke and Corey, elementary age boys, live with their father and mother. One day the father comes home to find the mother dead. The boys are never told why or how the mother has died and are not taken to the funeral. They live in the realm of the movies of the 60s, going to the Ritz theater to watch the new releases and get lost in the world of Hollywood. Clarke wants to know how his mother died; he has his suspicions. Going to the movies and trying to figure out the real world becomes his obsession.
Although the story has a great start and I really liked Powers style of writing, somewhere in the middle of the book the story becomes tiresome and repetitive. The story is told by several voices, which is a style that I enjoy, but the story got bogged down and I just could not wait for the end of it. I did read all of it and was glad for the ending but not happy with the ending. Powers seemed to go off on a tangent towards the end that I did not feel enhanced the story in any way.
I was initially going to give this book three stars but the ending just did it in for me.
Although the story has a great start and I really liked Powers style of writing, somewhere in the middle of the book the story becomes tiresome and repetitive. The story is told by several voices, which is a style that I enjoy, but the story got bogged down and I just could not wait for the end of it. I did read all of it and was glad for the ending but not happy with the ending. Powers seemed to go off on a tangent towards the end that I did not feel enhanced the story in any way.
I was initially going to give this book three stars but the ending just did it in for me.
October 5, 2022
This book did not work for me although it had a child describing the events. That normally works for me.
August 4, 2020
Kim Powers's haunting and spellbinding novel RULES FOR BEING DEAD reads like an intoxicating blend of the best of Shirley Jackson, Alice Sebold and Fannie Flagg. But Powers has created an original novel that is both a tender coming-of-age tale and a fascinating mystery that builds to a nail-biting climax.
Set in a small Texas town in 1966, the novel begins with the suspicious death of Creola Perkins, an unhappily married 44-year-old grade-school teacher, wife to alcoholic dreamer L.E. and mother to sensitive 10-year-old Clarke and epileptic seven-year-old Corey. The novel is told from various points of view--chiefly from the grieving Clarke and the earthbound spirit of Creola, who moves among the living and can see into the future but can't uncloud the last few days of her life. Was Creola's death an accident, suicide or murder? While the spirit of Creola wanders the small town wondering why she's not in Heaven or Hell, her final days start coming into clearer focus. At the same time, Clarke (who is beginning to realize he's attracted to male classmates) starts playing detective and comes to the conclusion that his mother's death was caused by his father (who already has a new girlfriend). When he finds a gun in his father's underwear drawer, he sets a plan in motion.
With a deceptively subtle, breezy writing style, Powers (CAPOTE IN KANSAS) pulls readers into his tasty and tantalizing mixture of empathetic characters, Southern gothic coming-of-age comedy, mystery and magical realism.
RULES FOR BEING DEAD is a captivating mixture of mystery, coming-of-age and magical realism and will be catnip for book clubs--gripping readers from the first page to the last.
Set in a small Texas town in 1966, the novel begins with the suspicious death of Creola Perkins, an unhappily married 44-year-old grade-school teacher, wife to alcoholic dreamer L.E. and mother to sensitive 10-year-old Clarke and epileptic seven-year-old Corey. The novel is told from various points of view--chiefly from the grieving Clarke and the earthbound spirit of Creola, who moves among the living and can see into the future but can't uncloud the last few days of her life. Was Creola's death an accident, suicide or murder? While the spirit of Creola wanders the small town wondering why she's not in Heaven or Hell, her final days start coming into clearer focus. At the same time, Clarke (who is beginning to realize he's attracted to male classmates) starts playing detective and comes to the conclusion that his mother's death was caused by his father (who already has a new girlfriend). When he finds a gun in his father's underwear drawer, he sets a plan in motion.
With a deceptively subtle, breezy writing style, Powers (CAPOTE IN KANSAS) pulls readers into his tasty and tantalizing mixture of empathetic characters, Southern gothic coming-of-age comedy, mystery and magical realism.
RULES FOR BEING DEAD is a captivating mixture of mystery, coming-of-age and magical realism and will be catnip for book clubs--gripping readers from the first page to the last.
November 30, 2020
In the late 1960s in McKinney, Texas ten-year-old Clarke and his brother, Corey escapes to the local theaters to watch movies. They use the movies as a way to fuel their dreams and cope with the recent death of their mother. The boys lose their beloved mother. but, no one will them how she died. And no one has told their mother, Creola, how she died either. She is floating around trapped between life and death. She spends her days watching her family and trying to figure out her final moments. Clarke decides that he will figure out the truth behind his mother's death. Will be able to cope with the truth?
I had hard a time getting into this book because the font size and spacing was so tiny! I felt like a grandmother trying to read this book and I had to read it in small bursts. However, I thought it was an entertaining but, a sad read. The author did a good job illustrating grief and flawed characters. The book was narrated in alternating points of view which allowed readers a glimpse into each character. The author took portions of his life story as inspiration for this book. I wish there was a section in the book explaining which parts were true to life and which were fabricated. I found myself thinking about it throughout the novel.
I had hard a time getting into this book because the font size and spacing was so tiny! I felt like a grandmother trying to read this book and I had to read it in small bursts. However, I thought it was an entertaining but, a sad read. The author did a good job illustrating grief and flawed characters. The book was narrated in alternating points of view which allowed readers a glimpse into each character. The author took portions of his life story as inspiration for this book. I wish there was a section in the book explaining which parts were true to life and which were fabricated. I found myself thinking about it throughout the novel.
April 18, 2021
That was a good novel, maybe a bit slow at times, but plenty to like.
The story is set in 1960s Texas, and we slowly explore the aftermath of and unravel the circumstances of the death of Creola, a teacher in her 40s, a wife and mother of two boys. She is actually our main first person narrator - hovering invisibly above the town and observing and trying to piece her final days together - along with her 10 year old Clarke through his journal. We also more rarely read third person narratives giving us the point of views of the father and his new partner.
We spend a lot of time at the movies, the love of which united mother and son. A few social themes are explored along the way. I thought all the main characters were very well written, they all have their complexities, and indeed it helps to get their different PoVs. I couldn't help wanting to know how Creola had died, and what Clarke was going to do! It's a sad book at times, but not depressing.
But it took a good while to get going, there were a couple of moments where I felt the author lost track of who his narrator was when relating some events, and there's a lot that feels convenient about Creola's memories and lack thereof.
The story is set in 1960s Texas, and we slowly explore the aftermath of and unravel the circumstances of the death of Creola, a teacher in her 40s, a wife and mother of two boys. She is actually our main first person narrator - hovering invisibly above the town and observing and trying to piece her final days together - along with her 10 year old Clarke through his journal. We also more rarely read third person narratives giving us the point of views of the father and his new partner.
We spend a lot of time at the movies, the love of which united mother and son. A few social themes are explored along the way. I thought all the main characters were very well written, they all have their complexities, and indeed it helps to get their different PoVs. I couldn't help wanting to know how Creola had died, and what Clarke was going to do! It's a sad book at times, but not depressing.
But it took a good while to get going, there were a couple of moments where I felt the author lost track of who his narrator was when relating some events, and there's a lot that feels convenient about Creola's memories and lack thereof.
February 11, 2021
I knew there was a reason I had this on my "priority read" shelf. And it's not just because one of my lifetime best friends lived in McKinney, Texas, for decades.
While that might have had just a _little_ to do with it, the fact of the matter is I am a sucker for coming of age in small-town Texas stories. Always have been, always will be. (I'm looking at you, Larry McMurtry.)
While this book deals with a lot of very, very serious subjects--not the least of which is elementary school-aged children trying to come to grips with their mother's unexpected death), it also very warm and funny. And witty.
I always feel the need to note funny _and_ witty because, well, because. You know why.
I'm trying to figure out what to compare this book to, without ending a sentence with a preposition, or even preposition the word.
Hmmm.....
I dunno. I guess the best I can do is say that I enjoyed Kim Powers' writing kinda like I enjoy Kate Atkinson's writing. And that is high, high praise.
I feel sorry for whatever book comes next.
While that might have had just a _little_ to do with it, the fact of the matter is I am a sucker for coming of age in small-town Texas stories. Always have been, always will be. (I'm looking at you, Larry McMurtry.)
While this book deals with a lot of very, very serious subjects--not the least of which is elementary school-aged children trying to come to grips with their mother's unexpected death), it also very warm and funny. And witty.
I always feel the need to note funny _and_ witty because, well, because. You know why.
I'm trying to figure out what to compare this book to, without ending a sentence with a preposition, or even preposition the word.
Hmmm.....
I dunno. I guess the best I can do is say that I enjoyed Kim Powers' writing kinda like I enjoy Kate Atkinson's writing. And that is high, high praise.
I feel sorry for whatever book comes next.
March 15, 2022
Round up to 4.5 stars. I picked up this book because the cover art called to me from the library shelves and the title was intriguing and I am so glad that I did so. Else, I would have missed this out on this charming coming-of-age story that is also somehow a family drama, literary fiction, and a (boy) detective story imbued with magical realism. Placed in Texas in the '60s and full of movie and book references of the time, I give an extra half star for the mention of The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax - one of my favorites from my teen years. A sense of sadness throughout - the mother has died and is witness to her family's many struggles while, of course, being unable to soothe or help. But there is also gentle humor and intrigue while one of her sons tries to solve the mystery of her death. I really enjoyed it and look forward to other books by this author.
July 16, 2020
Powers does a wonderful job of giving us a family drama surrounding the mysterious death of the mother of two preteen boys. The work is often narrated by the dead mother who can't remember the circumstances of her death, although she is able to remember times up to her demise as well as the future, one of the rules of being dead. The setting of the characters in the world of the early 6o's in a small Texas town is so evocative of the time. The characters are true to life. Although it is great to see the inclusion of gay characters in novels, I questioned the need for one of the gay characters in this work. The work builds to an emotional and climatic ending.
As an aside, I've found that there is a seemingly a in-style narrative of placing an "alive" dead character in works. Have all the authors gotten together and decided to write this narrative.
Thank you to Above the Treeline and the publisher for this free electronic copy of the work.
As an aside, I've found that there is a seemingly a in-style narrative of placing an "alive" dead character in works. Have all the authors gotten together and decided to write this narrative.
Thank you to Above the Treeline and the publisher for this free electronic copy of the work.
April 20, 2021
Warm and moving memoir - highly recommend!
Beautifully written in multiple voices, this memoir is a warm and moving tale of a difficult childhood in mid-60s smalltown Texas. A graceful blend of literary fiction, murder mystery, coming of age, finding one’s sexual orientation, film nostalgia, and magical realism, the story unfolds as a 9-year old boy tries to solve the mystery of his mother’s recent unexplained death. The setting is evocative of contemporary pop culture in a small Texas town, sympathetically depicting flawed characters, both good and bad. Narrating in alternating voices, the author explores the dynamics among an alcoholic abusive father, a bipolar and possibly self-destructive mother, their two young sons, and a number of other vividly drawn characters. Softening the sometimes sad and troubling storyline is abundant humor, bringing to life a difficult journey from loss to healing.
Beautifully written in multiple voices, this memoir is a warm and moving tale of a difficult childhood in mid-60s smalltown Texas. A graceful blend of literary fiction, murder mystery, coming of age, finding one’s sexual orientation, film nostalgia, and magical realism, the story unfolds as a 9-year old boy tries to solve the mystery of his mother’s recent unexplained death. The setting is evocative of contemporary pop culture in a small Texas town, sympathetically depicting flawed characters, both good and bad. Narrating in alternating voices, the author explores the dynamics among an alcoholic abusive father, a bipolar and possibly self-destructive mother, their two young sons, and a number of other vividly drawn characters. Softening the sometimes sad and troubling storyline is abundant humor, bringing to life a difficult journey from loss to healing.
March 18, 2023
This was such a touching story. I didn't know what to expect going into it. What I found was nostalgia for a time I haven't ever experienced myself, and a deep well of sadness and grief that so many of us share that was interspersed with quirky, funny moments that only the perceptions of a 10 y/o who is just learning to navigate the world, forced to grow up too quickly, can provide.
On top of a perfectly paced story, the writing was so beautifully tender - pure poetry at times, especially Creola's last moments as she's freed from the mystery surrounding her very own death and the way Clarke sees the world and tries to piece things together.
I usually tend to stay away from stories focused mainly on death because I spend too much time thinking about that anyway, but I'm glad that I gave this book a chance.
On top of a perfectly paced story, the writing was so beautifully tender - pure poetry at times, especially Creola's last moments as she's freed from the mystery surrounding her very own death and the way Clarke sees the world and tries to piece things together.
I usually tend to stay away from stories focused mainly on death because I spend too much time thinking about that anyway, but I'm glad that I gave this book a chance.
March 24, 2023
I'm still digesting this book my cousin shared with me. Because her mother died at age 38 and my mother died at age 52, we both learned about loss at a young age. The positive outcome of that is neither one of us takes life for granted. This story is told from the perspective of a young boy whose mother has died. The reader does not learn until near the conclusion of the novel how she died. Clarke's narrative toggles with that of his departed mother who is in some kind of limbo. She knows she has died, but has not moved on (perhaps because she cannot remember how she died). Peppered into the story are themes of escapism (the movies), alcoholism, domestic abuse, and homosexuality. I liked this epigraph by Barbara Kingsolver: "Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin."
January 3, 2021
I love novels that are written from different points of view, such as epistolary novels, historical fiction that covers generations, or novels with multiple narrators. This book is written in the first person, from the point of view of several characters -- a woman, her husband, her two sons, her rival, and her best friend. The characters are well-drawn with distinct voices, and their points of view overlap and build the story together. That story is centered on Creola, a mother and wife who dies in the first chapter, and then circles around the central mystery of how she died. But the real meat here is the myriad ways Creola's life touched others and the rippled, many-layered impacts of her death.
July 11, 2020
I won a copy of this book through a goodreads giveaway. The book had a slow start and I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. The author did spend some time introducing characters and letting the readers get to know them. I really liked how the story was told through the eyes of the different characters as well. This book was also sad and tugged at the heart strings. A father struggling to keep life together for his two young sons after their mother dies. The ending of the book was also fantastic and a HUGE plot twist. I thought I had the story figured out only to realize I wasn’t even close. This was a great read!
September 12, 2020
This was a wonderful book that gives you plenty to think about. Many misunderstandings lead to many sorrows. This book is about Clarke who is 10 and his brother Corey who is 7. Their mother Creola passes away on April Fools Day and no one will tell them how she died. Their Dad L.E., Rita his girlfriend and Maurice. It is set in the late 1960's in McKinney Texas and The Ritz, the local movie theatre plays a big part. It is told in alternating voices and is a very powerful story. From the book jacket "This uniquely heartbreaking novel--Literary fiction meets boy detective--is somehow adorable and sinister at the same time" I highly recommend this book!
November 15, 2020
“God is getting me ready for something; the feathers on my back are twitching. I think that means He’s forgiving me.”
Maybe 3.5 because I love that line so much.
“I can’t protect him. That’s the toughest rule I’ve learned in the days since I died.”
“He thought you could tell a lot about a person from the way their shoulders sat.”
“His boys didn’t know how good they had it.” Sad. Amazing anyone survived their childhood.
“A mother knows these things, even when she’s dead.”
“Pussy Galore is dead. That’s how my day started, with one more dead thing in the house.”
“God bless her, because I couldn’t.”
Maybe 3.5 because I love that line so much.
“I can’t protect him. That’s the toughest rule I’ve learned in the days since I died.”
“He thought you could tell a lot about a person from the way their shoulders sat.”
“His boys didn’t know how good they had it.” Sad. Amazing anyone survived their childhood.
“A mother knows these things, even when she’s dead.”
“Pussy Galore is dead. That’s how my day started, with one more dead thing in the house.”
“God bless her, because I couldn’t.”
November 26, 2020
This was a very interesting read. Wife and mother Creola has died. How, she's not quite sure and we know that because she is hanging around in the hereafter to both figure it out and watch over her two young sons. It's strange to think of a ghost not knowing everything instantly upon death but it gave the story a different spin than the usual "ghost story." As a reader, you felt for Creola - she felt the loss of her life because she died young and unfulfilled, but because she could not be there to protect her sons. As the story unfolds, mainly in the viewpoints of Creola and her oldest son Clarke, you see the mystery shaped by who is looking at the clues.
I loved the varying POVs offered - each was unique and offered important insight to the story and characters. The author's narrative style really grabbed me - the metaphors and imagery were both poigg at times, inciting such vivid memories you were caught up in your own little story in your head.nant and rattlin
Powers has a great voice and builds a multi-dimensional story full of people you care about by the end. You want them all to find their happily ever after
I loved the varying POVs offered - each was unique and offered important insight to the story and characters. The author's narrative style really grabbed me - the metaphors and imagery were both poigg at times, inciting such vivid memories you were caught up in your own little story in your head.nant and rattlin
Powers has a great voice and builds a multi-dimensional story full of people you care about by the end. You want them all to find their happily ever after
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