Synopsis
Fifteen chapters of an unfinished sequel to the best-selling novel Cold Sassy Tree are drawn to a conclusion by Burns's editor who also reflects on the inspiring life of Olive Ann Burns. 75,000 first printing.
Reviews
As she battled cancer, Burns (1924-1990) completed 14 chapters of a sequel to her 1984 bestseller Cold Sassy Tree , leaving behind at her death part of a 15th chapter and notes on how she intended to develop the novel's characters and plot. This new visit to the fictional town of Cold Sassy, Ga., features the original novel's protagonist, Will Tweedy, now 25 and too dang skinny to fight in WW I. Encouraged by local matchmakers, Will nervously courts schoolteacher Sanna Klein. Although the completed chapters do not cover their marriage, the births of their four kids or their hardships, these events are foreshadowed; in fact, most of the characters are based on Burns's immediate family and the story draws on their experiences. While it's tempting to relax and enjoy the outrageous southern situations, humor and attitudes here, the knowledge that the narrative will abruptly end (leaving conflicts sadly unresolved) dictates a cautious approach. Readers should prepare for an interrupted work-in-process, an uneasy sense of a writer's voice about to be stilled. Kenison, Burns's editor and friend, has packaged this second book respectfully and affectionately, adding an overlong, eulogistic portrait in which she limns the author's creative growth and painful but productive final years. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
In 1984, the late Burns (d. 1990) published Cold Sassy Tree--a spirited, southern small-town rural tale with robust characters and a regional period (1906) diction that was as tangy and real as grits. Now comes this partial sequel--which continues the story of Will Tweedy and the courting of his future wife--that Burns, with extraordinary courage, worked on through her final illness. Burns's editor, Katrina Kenison, who was left with notes and letters by the author to indicate plotlines beyond the 15 finished chapters here, has contributed a tribute and personal reminiscence. The previous novel concerned the adventures of narrator Will Tweedy, then 14, of Cold Sassy Tree, Georgia, who among others wondered at the shocking marriage of newly widowed Grandpa Blakeslee and the stylish Miss Love. Now, in 1917, Grandpa is gone, and boarding with Miss Love is that ``pure-T beauty,'' new schoolteacher Sanna Maria Klein, who's infatuated with a Harvard boy--until her disastrous visit to his fancy home when bath water floods a festive board. Will's courting moves on--even through a Thanksgiving when Sanna's usually genial foster-father, snookered on moonshine, saws a half moon out of the dining-room table to accommodate his massive stomach--but there are seeds of trouble even before the wedding: Will, a county agent for the state's Department of Agriculture, speaks of farming's gamble as ``excitin','' Sanna says, ``I hate excitement...just another word for worry.'' Meanwhile, most of the Cold Sassy Tree cast is here again: abrasive Aunt Loma, who can whistle ``Whispering Hope'' so thrillingly at church but who has crazy marriage plans, as well as a mean deal for her son; Will's parents, yoked but apart; and townsfolk who have the stubborn endurance of hardscrabble lives beyond their salty talk. For fans of Cold Sassy Tree, an essential; for newcomers, a spur to read the earlier novel. Kenison's tribute to Burns, a gentle, gallant woman, comprises half of the book. (Eight-page photo insert) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
When her long and valiant fight against cancer and congestive heart failure came to an end, Burns's last wish was that the finished chapters of the sequel to Cold Sassy Tree ( LJ 10/15/84) might reach her many faithful readers in published form. Leaving Cold Sassy honors that wish, but it represents an act of homage rather than a finished work of fiction. The extant 15 chapters are obviously in need of tightening and polishing, and the reader must depend on the editor's notes to learn of Burns's plans for the novel; the actual text barely introduces the story. Burns intended to tell, again in Will Tweedy's (her father's) voice, the fictionalized story of her parents' marriage--sorely tried by Depression poverty, incompatibility, and her father's infidelities, yet finally successful. Fans of Cold Sassy Tree will enjoy the affectionate recollections of Burns's editor and friend, which constitute one third of the text. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/92.
- Anneliese Schwarzer, formerly with "Library Journal"
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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