Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise (Bright's Pond #2)” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise

(Bright's Pond #2)

Joyce Magnin (Goodreads Author)

3.76 · Rating details · 2,331 ratings · 268 reviews

Newly widowed Charlotte Figg purchases a double-wide trailer sight unseen and moves to the Paradise Trailer Park with her dog, Lucky. Unfortunately, neither the trailer nor Paradise are what Charlotte expected. Her trailer is a ramshackle old place in need of major repair, and the people of Paradise are harboring more secrets than Bayer has aspirin. Charlotte's new friend ...more

Get A Copy

Or buy for

Paperback, 400 pages

Published September 1st 2010 by Abingdon Press (first published March 1st 2010)

More Details... edit details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise, please sign up.

Be the first to ask a question about Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

3.76 ·

Rating details

· 2,331 ratings · 268 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Apr 22, 2012 Melissa Mcginnis rated it really liked it

Got this as free Kindle download a long time ago. Started today and finished in a few hours (never even got around to marking it "currently reading" on my Goodreads bookshelf).

Like other reviewers have said, Magnin knows how to spin a yarn. She has a definite control over language. I personally found the story intriguing, which is why I downloaded it. I found it to be an easy read but fun, and also inspiring. Charlotte Figg and her motley crew remind me of people I actually know in real life ( ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Dec 26, 2011 Shari Larsen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Newly widowed Charlotte Figg purchases double wide trailer, sight unseen, in the Paradise Trailer Park. The trailer is not what she expected though, it's run down and needs a lot of repairs, and was nothing like the picture in the ad, but she is stuck with it. She meets her neighbors, a quirky set of characters but they help her to get settled in Paradise and become her closest friends. When her new friend Rose finds out she was a former softball champ, she persuades Charlotte to start a ladies ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Dec 02, 2012 Glenajo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary-womens, fiction, humorous, christian, uplifting, women-s

When Charlotte’s domineering husband drops dead with a heart attack, Charlotte doesn’t know which way to turn. When she reads an advertisement, Charlotte buys a doublewide trailer, sight unseen, and moves to Paradise Trailer Park. Her rosy view of a trailer park crashes to the ground when she pulls up to her purchase that is far less than advertised. Another resident, Rose Tattoo, conveniences her to stay, and together they pull the residents together and form a softball team. There she finds he ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Nov 06, 2012 Annette rated it really liked it

First the book is a fun book. But it is also a serious book about domestic abuse and the damage done to a soul when it is physically and emotionally abused.

There is humor, from the names of characters to the situations involved. A softball team is created with some very unusual talented players. And though the team and the game of softball are important to the plot, this is not a sports story. It is a story of overcoming difficult times and dealing with situations and people that are harmful to ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Nov 07, 2010 Brenda rated it it was amazing

This book starts out fast and holds your attention until the last page, Joyce Magnin is a new to me author, with a writing style that reminds me of Fannie Flagg, its a story of a lady really becoming the person she was meant to be, all it took was the death of her husband, and a move to a trailer park!

Charlotte Figg's husband Herman was the top Fuller brush salesman in his area, basically a unhappy man, Charlotte seemed oppressed by him, but a few pages in he drops dead in the kitchen floor, an This book starts out fast and holds your attention until the last page, Joyce Magnin is a new to me author, with a writing style that reminds me of Fannie Flagg, its a story of a lady really becoming the person she was meant to be, all it took was the death of her husband, and a move to a trailer park!

Charlotte Figg's husband Herman was the top Fuller brush salesman in his area, basically a unhappy man, Charlotte seemed oppressed by him, but a few pages in he drops dead in the kitchen floor, and even though Charlotte doesn't realize it yet her life is about to change for the better.

When Charlotte finds a life insurance policy in the bottom of Herman's salesman's bag, she knows at least she wont have to worry about money for a while. One of the first changes Charlotte makes is allowing a stray dog, whom she calls Lucky into her life. When Lucky steals the neighbors mail, Charlotte starts looking thru one of their magazines called Road Tripper, a RV magazine. When she comes across an ad that says nice looking double wide for sale with the contact person being Fergus Wrinkel at Paradise Trailer Park, she gets a bit of wanderlust, the picture included in the ad shows an eye catching trailer with wide window and awnings hanging with pots of pink and purple verbena. So she calls and purchases the trailer site unseen. So after selling her home, she heads for Paradise, where she is shocked at what she finds, instead of the pretty trailer in the ad she has purchased a run down mobile home that has racoons living inside it, when she complains to Mr. Wrinkel he informs her she is stuck with the trailer. Charlotte feels like such a fool, but soon she meets some people from the trailer park and they assure her that they will help her get her trailer fixed up.

She meets a quirky bunch of people at the trailer park from Rose Tattoo, to Ginger Rodgers, the trailer park residents each have their own issues. When Rose realizes that Charlotte used to play softball, she convinces Charlotte that they should get a team going in the trailer park. While everyone at the park suspicions that Mr Wrinkel his hiding something, Charlotte believes he is abusing his wife Suzie. When Charlotte encourages Suzie to leave Fergus, she realizes it wont be an easy thing to do, and when Fergus threatens Charlotte will she back off or will she continue to try and help Suzie?

Taking a trip to Paradise with Charlotte was a real adventure. The trailer park was filled with such a cast of characters, and Charlotte fit in perfectly. After the death of her husband, whom she was married to for 26 years, she was able to start living her life the way she wanted, and even though she sometimes made mistakes it seemed as if she had friends that were there to help her, and friends was something she never really had while Herman was alive. This story had some very humorous moments, but also some very serious ones as well, the one thing that Charlotte tended to do when she was upset or worried was bake pies. I really enjoyed the way the author allowed Charlotte to grow from a frumpy oppressed housewife into a lady with courage strength and a sense of who God wants her to be.

The author does an amazing job weaving this story in a way that allows the characters to capture your heart, I felt like I was visiting old friends while reading this book.

If you enjoy a story with a quirky cast of characters, that deals with a few tough topics then pick up this book, you wont regret it.

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for providing me a review copy of this book. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 19, 2013 Heather rated it it was amazing

This story was a roller coaster of emotion. Humor, loss, kindness, anger & love all wrapped up in an inspiring and uplifting little package.

Charlotte Figg was at a crossroads after her husband suddenly died. She decided to make a change and move, start a new life in a new place, with new people. As Charlotte's story unfolds she is hit with one stumbling block after another and must learn to stand tall and work though the problems she faces on her own. Even though she doesn't realize it at fi ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Dec 28, 2011 Karen rated it it was amazing

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 22, 2012 Rayni rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Rayni by: Pixel of Ink

Shelves: 2012-reads, unputdownable, kindle, causes

I like Joyce Magnin's style of writing, reminds me of Fannie Flagg. One of the best lines of the whole book is when Charlotte & 3 of her friends go out to dinner.

Now, I would never say this to anyone ... I felt a little like the nurse taking the patients out of the asylum ...

One of the drawbacks of Kindle is I can't pick it up & riffle through the pages to find that line. But I did it anyway & found it 82% of the way through the book. I kept trying to find a stopping place, but I h ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 04, 2011 Judy King rated it liked it

Sometimes I need these lighter books to space out the others - and I did learn to care about these folks in the paradise trailer park -- I liked the book -- it wasn't grand or fabulous, but a good solid light-type read.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 03, 2013 Marti rated it liked it

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

First, I will say that I enjoy books with strong female protagonists and this book most definitely had that in Charlotte. However, there were too many quite unlikely coincidences for me to give this book any higher than a 3 star rating. That said, it was quite readable and I did find myself cheering on Charlotte and the other characters who populated the book. In short, as the book opens, Charlotte's husband, Fuller Brush salesman Herman Figg has suddenly died. He had been a domineering man who First, I will say that I enjoy books with strong female protagonists and this book most definitely had that in Charlotte. However, there were too many quite unlikely coincidences for me to give this book any higher than a 3 star rating. That said, it was quite readable and I did find myself cheering on Charlotte and the other characters who populated the book. In short, as the book opens, Charlotte's husband, Fuller Brush salesman Herman Figg has suddenly died. He had been a domineering man who mostly wanted Charlotte to stay at home, clean, and bake pies, which she had done. Thus Charlotte, childless and really only having one friend and possessing almost no skills with which to navigate the world on her own at the age of fifty-one had a lot of learning to do very quickly. At least she found a life insurance policy at the bottom of Herman's beloved Fuller Brush sample case, which gave her the money necessary to bury Herman and left her with a bit of income. Soon enough, a motley dog, whom Charlotte named Lucky "adopted" her and presented her with a neighbor's mail which included an RV magazine. While flipping through the magazine, Charlotte saw an ad for a lovely looking double-wide trailor. Charlotte, feeling that she could no longer live in her home, which still smelled of Herman, bought the trailor sight unseen. Of course, the trailor she bought was not in fact the one in the picture and was a run down piece of junk. However, soon there were neighbors who were helping her fix up the trailor and providing Charlotte with the friendship and camaraderie that she sorely needed. The trailor park included a motley crew of characters and Charlotte did soon become a kind of champion. We find that Charlotte's marraige had actually been a sad and troubled one and while one part of Charlotte still grieved for herman another side was finally free and able to become the person she probably was really meant to be. This was a quick, easy read and was for the most part engaging but there were too many quite unlikely coincidences for me. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jun 12, 2012 Tabi34 rated it really liked it

This is a fun little read. I had some issues with it, but I'll get to those in a moment. Charlotte Figg's husband Herman dies and she buys a trailer in Paradise, from an ad in a magazine. She was married for 26 years and Herman made all of the decisions and well, she was in need of some practice - she was the victim of a bait and switch. The trailer is a disaster, but she and her dog Lucky move stay after meeting some of the people of Paradise.

It seems the trailer park is in a rut or scared and ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 28, 2013 Margaret rated it really liked it

Shelves: author-to-look-for

This book is fast-paced and full of quirky characters. So much of the plot is totally implausible, but I loved it. I am looking forward to reading more from the Bright's Pond series. In this offering, Charlotte unexpectedly finds herself a widow at the age of 58. She does her duty to see that he has a proper funeral and burial; but honestly, she is ready to move on. Charlotte sells her home, buys a cute little double wide mobile home off the internet, packs up her belongings and moves to Paradis ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 11, 2012 Mae R rated it really liked it

Shelves: kindle-freebies

Who knew that a book about forming a trailer park softball team could be so engrossing!! "Charlotte figg takes over paradise" is a legitmately fun and heart warming book. The characters, though quirky, are well fleshed out and it's very easy to become attached to them and I often found myself empathizing with them in their sorrows, rooting for them in their struggles, and being genuinely pleased when things worked out in their strange ways. For this is definitely a book which shows that while th ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Aug 31, 2011 Katherine Coble rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction-with-a-not-so-hidden-agenda

Once again Abingdon Press tries to sneak a little Jesus into the Frito Pie. This is yet another freebie for the Amazon Kindle that mentions nothing about faith, Christianity or religion. Then again, it also doesn't mention the man-hate. Cutesy and cloying, with too many eccentric-for-eccentricity's sake characters, this book is set in a trailer park in the 1970s, where all but one and a half of the male characters over 11 years of age are either violent charlatans or hickish rubes. In a few case ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 17, 2012 Mary Vernon rated it liked it

Definitely picked this one based on the cover/picture (colorful, quirky), the name (again, colorful, quirky) and the fact that it was FREE to download on Kindle (thanks to inkmesh.com and my good friend, Anna, who introduced me to the site). OK, so it's free, and I'm about 31% through the book (I'm starting to think about everything in percentages now... thanks, Kindle!). Having said that, it's not bad so far. Time will tell. I think I know where the story is going... but it's a enjoyable ride. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Sep 12, 2011 Vicki rated it really liked it

A friend like Charlotte would be fantastic, I wish I knew someone like her! Watching her become stronger, standing up for herself and for her friends, was inspiring. There were touches of religion, but I never felt I was being preached at. If you need a lot of action this is probably not the book for you, but I enjoyed this book very much. Very nice book, I would recommend it.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Sep 07, 2011 Melissa rated it liked it

I got the kindle edition free on Amazon. Most religious fiction is a too heavy on the religion for me, but this one was just right. The story was really entertaining, although I found the ending to be rushed and unfulfilling.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 13, 2012 Sheila rated it it was amazing

5 STARS

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Nov 11, 2011 Sandra rated it really liked it

This was a really fun book. Great characters and the writing was good. The end was a little abrupt, but good. I would read this author again.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jun 12, 2013 Jennifer rated it liked it

I loved these quirky characters. Good story.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Sep 25, 2018 Christy rated it it was ok

Shelves: contemporary

I appreciated how the author was able to create a nice story without the ever-present romance in so many reads; but for me this book focused on women's abuse and disabilities way too much that left me longing for something fun to read. It lacked the humor I had read about in so many reviews. Rose makes a statement in the book that the women in the trailer park don't see each other much but we take care of our own we just don't have barbecues and such. I couldn't help but feel the story would hav ...more

flag Like · see review

Jul 09, 2018 Carol rated it it was amazing

A very entertaining book. Laughed through it quite a bit!!!! Welcome to the Paradise trailer park. After the death of her husband Charlotte Figg moves with her dog lucky. She discovers the trailer that she purchased is not what she expected nor is the neighbors. With encouragement from her new friend Rose she rallies the women from paradise into a soft ball team. She uncovers secrets alot of what she would like to keep hidden. Charlotte was never good at keeping secrets!!!!

flag Like · see review

Jul 13, 2017 Karen Densmore rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Best in a long time.

This was a refreshing book to read. Strong, unique characters, good story line and life lessons in the mix. I will be recommending this book to my family and friends.

flag Like · see review

Jul 05, 2017 Laura rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Hilarious and yet serious. This book was such a fun read! A great book club book.

flag Like · see review

Dec 19, 2017 Robyn Spencer rated it really liked it

See my review of The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow. I enjoyed this book just as much.

flag Like · see review

Jul 03, 2018 Alison Roybal rated it it was amazing

Such a funny, fantastic novel. I read this and then went on to read her novel Harriet Beamer Strikes Gold both in 1 day they were so good!!!!

flag Like · see review

Oct 23, 2018 Judie Billingsley rated it it was amazing

Loved these unique and wonderful characters that turn hardships to joy as they heal and grow together in this quaint trailer park.

flag Like · see review

Aug 11, 2017 Pjcamp rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Loved this book. So enjoyed how all the characters came together full circle to gave meaning to each other. Would enjoy more books from this author.

flag Like · see review

Jul 11, 2017 Jeannine rated it liked it · review of another edition

A light, pleasant read about a woman starting over after her husband dies. She moves to a trailer park (Paradise) where the residents become her new family.

flag Like · see review

Jul 06, 2017 Cindy Bradford rated it it was amazing

I love it! I liked the characters and the setting-everyday people and the lives and secrets they have.

flag Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend It | Stats | Recent Status Updates

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Fiction

48 users

Christian

37 users

See top shelves…

About Joyce Magnin

Joyce Magnin

156 followers

Um, I like cross stitch, baseball, my children and grandkids, but not elevators or laundry. I've been known to run from mayonnaise and I play RPG video games. I don't have a favorite author although I read a lot.