Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns

In 1906, it doesn’t take much to scandalize the small Southern town of Cold Sassy, Georgia.  So when Grandpa Blakeslee suddenly marries a much younger woman a mere three weeks after the death of his wife, the town is in an uproar!  This is just the beginning of a year filled with change for our narrator, fourteen-year-old Will Tweedy.   As Will experiences love and death, progress and loss, and the inevitable changes that come with life and growing up, so, too, does the town.  Filled with a cast of wonderful, flawed characters, this delightful tale of a community set in its ways coming to terms with change will make you laugh, cry, and maybe even recognize some truths about your own family history.

 I read this book years ago and just recently picked it up again for Book Club.  It didn’t take many pages for me to remember why I loved this book the first time around! While I believe Cold Sassy Tree would be a pleasure to read for anyone who loves a good story, as someone with roots in a small Southern mill town it was particularly interesting to see how my grandparents may have grown up and become the kind of people they were.

Molly – York                                         ISBN 0899193099