Customer Reviews

On Account of Conspicuous Women: A Novel

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 1920 following her beloved dropping dead, Widow Ina Fitzhugh moves from Virginia to teach school in Roxboro in Person County, North Carolina. Three natives worry that the out of towner will disparage their community. Guerine Loftis, Doodle Shuford and Bertie Daye hope to sell Ina on the merits of living in Roxboro.

During her first year in town, Ina often thinks about how much she left behind to live in this backwater town. Still she makes tentative friends with the three women. However each has their own goals that they pursue, which has the four females still somewhat friendly but drifting apart.

This tale starts off a bit slow as the audience meets the four females, but picks up some speed once the fearsome foursome get together. The story line is a historical period piece that provides a deep look at a by gone era in the rural south when sophisticates from Virginia were considered foreigners and suffragettes like Bertie at a minimum eccentric. Readers who enjoy a leisurely character driven tale will appreciate this engaging glimpse at four women in the post WWI North Carolina summed up by the opening quote: "Well-behaved women seldom make history" by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.

Harriet Klausner

From the first page of this wonderful book, I was "swept into the beautiful dream" as John Gardner would have said and right into the story of Bertie, Guerine, Ina and Doodle and didn't want to leave.

Bertie has a lot of gumption and is not afraid to speak her mind and fight for her beliefs, working to give a voice to those who have none. Guerine is an inspiration, who "built herself on a firm foundation of parental neglect," (one of my favorite sentences of all-time) but never lets that get in her way; instead she looks deep into her heart to find the strength she needs. Ina, who finds the courage to make a life for herself that she never expected after a personal tragedy leaves her broken-hearted, and Doodle, whose heart and hands bare the scars of her difficult life and survivor spirit.

A survivor spirit is what unites these characters. Dawn Shamp is a very talented writer who seamlessly weaves the narrative from four different points of view without ever losing the continuity of the story or the integrity of her characters.

The book was a little slow at the beginning. Since it centers on the lives of four different women it was necessary for the author to establish their characters. Once the personalities and situations of each were set the novel moved along. I enjoyed the development of each character as she represented her place in the emergence of women. The setting was the south and, as my birthplace is in the south the story resonated with me.

On Account of Conspicuous women is one of the freshest voices I have heard in my account of Southern reading. Dawn Shamp's characters are so original and every sentence is like eating a pomegenate and every sentence is a juicy seed. I never wanted it to end and am greatly looking forward to her second book!