Bed & Breakfast: A Novel [Paperback]

Lois Battle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 25, 2009

Penguin is pleased to reintroduce readers to "born storyteller" (The Washington Post) and New York Times bestselling author Lois Battle and her delightful holiday tale of Josie Taternall and her South Carolina bed and breakfast. After her best friend's narrow brush with death, Josie decides that life is too short to let old grievances stand in the way of family togetherness. This year, she resolves, her three grown daughters-the girls she raised so carefully yet with such mixed results-will come home for Christmas. With her uncanny ear for Southern sensibility and her sharp-eyed wit, Battle gives us the perfect upstairs/downstairs comedy and a portrait of a family in all its tender, touching, and flawed glory that readers young and old will cherish.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this Southern story of female relationships and family dysfunction, a vision of mortality provokes a widowed mother to reunite her three adult daughters. A decade of misunderstandings, ill will, and blame has kept the Taternalls apart. Bed & Breakfast recounts the story of the family coming back together over Christmas. The characters are well crafted and believable; readers are likely to recognize some personalities from the Taternall clan among their own friends and family. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In this well-crafted story by the author of Storyville (Viking, 1993), Josie Tatternall, a military widow in her seventies, is inspired by a friend's nearly fatal illness to call together her own three daughters?in particular, her estranged daughter, Cam, who has not been home since the death of her father years ago. What starts out as a family gathering for the twilight of Josie's life actually marks the beginning of her understanding of her achievements and, quite unexpectedly, her second chance at love. The story introduces a cast of memorable characters, primarily Josie herself, who fully reminds us that life, love, and growth are not limited to any particular age. Somewhat light reading, but a good story nonetheless.?Susan C. Colegrove, Athens Regional Lib. System, Ga.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Revised edition (August 25, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143116436
• ISBN-13: 978-0143116431
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,349,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book you will keep on your shelf, March 7, 2001

By 

"sohotampachick" (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bed and Breakfast (Paperback)

There is always the book that you can't discard even when you clean off the shelves to make room for new books. This is one of those books because you will always remember it as a pleasant experience-- you will truly enjoy this one!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An engaging study of a family living in the deep South., March 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bed and Breakfast (Paperback)

I found this novel engaging and pleasant to read, in the spirit of other Southern writers such as Anne River Siddons. Ms. Battle's explorations of a troubled mother and her adult daughters, intensified by the anxieties of the Christmas holidays, kept me turning the pages at a fast clip. I feel, however, that if Ms. Battle had deleted some of the characters--even one of the three daughters--and more fully developed the others, the novel would have been deeper and more thoughtful.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting theme of trying to break-free of one's "culture", April 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bed and Breakfast (Paperback)

I bought this book because I like the author (and she comes from my home town in Australia). This book is reminiscent ( in parts) of Gail Godwin's "A Mother and Two Daughters", though is more superficial and therefore easier to read. I enjoyed it, but think certain characters were not developed enough (youngest daughter, boyfriend , granddaughter etc). On the whole, an interesting glimpse at a daughter trying to escape the confines of her cultural heritage and her mother's coming to terms with mortality and attempts at reconciling a fragmented family.