Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This entertaining second novel from the author of the well-received Buster Midnight's Cafe could be a sleeper. Set in Depression-era Kansas and made vivid with the narrator's humorous down-home voice, it's a story of loyalty and friendship in a women's quilting circle. Young farm wife Queenie Bean tells about the brief membership of a city girl named Rita, whose boredom with country living and aspirations to be an investigative reporter lead her to unearth secrets in the close-knit group, called the Persian Pickle Club after a coveted paisley print. Queenie's desire to win Rita's friendship (``We were chickens... and Rita was a hummingbird'') clashes with her loyalty to the Pickles when Rita tries to solve the murder of a member's husband, in the process unearthing complicated relationships among the women who meet each week to quilt and read aloud to each other. The result is a simple but endearing story that depicts small-town eccentricities with affection and adds dazzle with some late-breaking surprises. Dallas hits all the right notes, combining an authentic look at the social fabric of Depression-era life with a homespun suspense story. Film rights to Norman Twain Productions; Literary Guild alternate selection. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Hard times in Depression-era Harveyville, Kansas, are softened by the conviviality of a weekly quilting circle called the Persian Pickle Club. Queenie Bean, the "talkingest" member of the group, narrates the novel with snappy style. Over the course of a year, during which the club experiences more sorrow than sewing, Queenie and her pals depend on one another more than ever. When Queenie forms a fast friendship with the newest "Pickle," a flashy, big-city gal named Rita, the equilibrium of the group changes, for Rita is a novice newspaper reporter intent on making a name for herself. The story Rita most wants to crack involves the mysterious death of one of the club ladies' husbands. Will secrets long stitched into the collective fabric of friendship hold? This and other suspenseful questions of small-town life will entertain readers who enjoyed Fannie Flag's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (Random, 1987), Olive Ann Burns's Cold Sassy Tree (LJ 10/15/84), or Dallas's first novel, Buster Midnight's Cafe (LJ 4/15/90).Keddy Ann Outlaw, Harris Cty. P.L., Houston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The author of Buster Midnight's Cafe (1990) spins a tale of pioneer justice and impenetrable loyalty among farmwives in Depression-era Kansas: a down-to-earth, genuine, and, alas, dull second novel. ""Persian pickle,"" the Kansas term for paisley, has lent its name to the decades-old Harveyville quilting club in recognition of founding member Ceres Root's old habit--parceling out bits of her favorite paisley fabric for use in other club members' quilts. Persian pickles, in fact, are a symbol of how intertwined the quilters' lives have become and are also about the most exotic thing these farmwives have seen--until the arrival of Rita Ritter, a pretty college girl married to farmer's son Tom Ritter. Gregarious young Queenie Bean rushes to welcome Rita into the club--and, despite the latter's city clothes, helplessness with a quilting needle, and lack of appreciation for the club's importance, the two women become friends. When Rita explains that she aspires to become a newspaper reporter, the befuddled club members follow Queenie's lead, gamely submitting to a story about the club in the local paper and not even complaining when Rita misspells their names. They prove less easygoing, however, when the body of club member Ella Crook's missing husband, Ben, is discovered buried in one of Ella's fields and Rita wants to find the murderer to advance her career. It takes many questions and much maneuvering for Rita to realize that these innocuous-seeming women may know more than they let on about Ben's death--and even then, she finds the wall of feminine loyalty unyielding. A milder version of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, with more predictable twists and less engaging eccentricities. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
