Necessary Lies: A Novel - Hardcover

Daugharty, Janice

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060171774 ISBN 13: 9780060171773

Publisher: Harpercollins, 1995

Synopsis

Worrying about her father's reaction to her pregnancy out of wedlock, seventeen-year-old Cliffie Flowers decides to make the best out of a difficult situation, until she is accused of murder. By the author of Dark of the Moon. National ad/promo.

About this title

Reviews

In her short story collection, Going Through the Change, Daugharty offered glimpses of the sordid lives that are the background for this novel, in which "backward" is equated with "backwoods." Set in 1953, in the Okefenokee Swamp region of south Georgia, this story of inbreeding and small-town secrets focuses on a pathetic, pregnant 17-year-old who was once the shining hope of her uneducated father. Cliffie Flowers, the oldest, smartest and prettiest daughter of "Pappy" Ocain Flowers, considers herself civilized in comparison to her impoverished mother and siblings (among whom are a brother named Roy Acuff and a bed-wetting sister named Pee-Jean). Yet Cliffie's values mirror her family's, and she is doomed to disappointment. When she becomes pregnant by criminally violent Roy Harris Weeks, she waxes romantic and plans to join him on a bus out of town to Fort Bragg; her tragic "necessary lies" are told to protect Roy Harris from Ocain's wrath, and later from charges of murder. Ocain, however, knows more than Cliffie guesses?he has told lies of his own. Daugharty ably juxtaposes Cliffie's sentimental notions and the overall hopelessness of her situation: "Nobody else had been obliged to amount to something," Cliffie argues in defiance of Ocain's praise. While this story is ugly?fascinatingly so, in fact?its freakish parade of stereotypical hicks offers sorrow without relief.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Like her first novel, Dark of the Moon (LJ 1/94), Daugharty's latest takes place in rural Georgia, this time in the early 1950s. Seventeen-year-old Cliffie Flowers finds herself pregnant by the area's ne'er-do-well gigolo, Ray Harris, whom her father warned her to avoid. Cliffie hopes they will marry even as Ray leaves for Fort Bragg. Then, she discovers that her younger sister is among Ray's many girlfriends. An emotion-filled meeting of the three results in a devastating fire, and Cliffie is accused of murder. Daugharty once again has succeeded in creating a suspenseful, well-written narrative around an unusual plot line. This work is more involved than the small page count indicates. Recommended for public libraries.
Heather Blenkinsopp, Mercy Coll. Lib., Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harpercollins
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060171774
• ISBN 13: 9780060171773
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 275