Carolina Moon (Ballantine Reader's Circle) [Paperback]

Jill McCorkle (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ballantine Reader's Circle | Publication Date: September 8, 1997

"DELIGHTFUL CHARACTERS, LIVELY DIALOGUE AND GOOD STORYTELLING."
--The Washington Post

Energetic, voluptuous, and well past sixty, Queen Mary Purdy opens a smoke-enders clinic in the resort town of Fulton, North Carolina. Her unorthodox approach (aroma therapy? Massage?) provides much grist for the rumor mill.  

But Quee's new venture is the least of the many scandals brewing in Fulton: a happily married woman entrusts her illicit secrets to a dead letter file; a mad-as-hell property owner seeks revenge for his recently-submerged investment; a radio talk show host longs to hit the big time, by any means. Quee knows these folks need help with more than their nicotine fits, and their troubles are all tied to that resilient little muscle known as the heart. . . .

"Has the elements of a mystery, a comedy and a small town soap opera. In fact, it's all three and more, a book about loss and recovery, grief and resolution, meddling and responsibility."
--San Francisco Chronicle

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Jill McCorkle entered the publishing world with a splash, sending her first two books to the press simultaneously. Her latest work, Carolina Moon, revolves around a circle of folks united not so much by their knowledge of one another but by a certain kindred spirit. The setting, as in McCorkle's earlier book July 7th, is a small North Carolina town. There, the charismatic widow Quee Purdy intercedes in the lives of a number of young couples, creating several mysteries, the details of which are disclosed from varying points of view. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

The sad, gritty truths about life have always poked through the graceful prose and smart, funny dialogue of McCorkle's novels and stories (Ferris Beach, Crash Diet, etc.), and here again she illuminates the ways that infidelity, illness, sexual passion and existential desperation can afflict ordinary lives. Her central character, blowsy, outspoken, 60-ish-but-still-sensual Quee Purdy, is a mysterious woman who knows many secret things about her neighbors, and who has a gift, and a mission, for helping those who come to her with their problems. What they don't know about Quee, however, is that, 25 years ago, Cecil Lowe made love to her just before he committed suicide, leaving a wife and toddler son. Bewildered and bereft, Quee has written unsigned, histrionic letters to her departed lover ever since, creating a thick dead letter file in the Fulton, N.C., post office. Meanwhile, Cecil's son grew up to be a skirt-chaser, but his one true love married someone else. Now Quee's goddaughter Denny Parks?who has arrived to work as a message therapist in Quee's newest enterprise, a smoke-enders clinic?falls for Tom. Theirs is not the only romantic liaison that Quee engineers; in fact many different fates?including a well-deserved murder?are played out with Quee's connivance. McCorkle interweaves these plot strands well, but in other respects this novel falters. Quee's letters, though meant to convey her lusty personality, are irritating to read; and too many scenes in the novel seem contrived. While she unleashes some nice surprises and illustrates her theme?that everyone is haunted by the ghosts of their dreams and the legacies of their pasts?McCorkle has not quite succeeded in making the citizens of Fulton as irresistible as those in her earlier books. Author tour.
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

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (September 8, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449912809
• ISBN-13: 978-0449912805
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,678,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dull as Dirt, November 27, 1999

By 

Joi Cardinal - See all my reviews

This review is from: Carolina Moon (Hardcover)

This is one of those books where all the best parts can be found on the book jacket! I was intrigued by the book jacket description of the Swap Shop Show: "If you've got something you're itching to sell, something you mighta never woulda bought no way, then give us a call," but this idea isn't expanded upon in the text. Instead, this seems to be another in a series of recent books where the authors seem to believe a series of quirky characters alone a great novel make. Not so. Readers want characters they can get to know, characters who grow and change throughout the book, not a series of semi-related vignettes about cardboard cutouts of people. I particularly found McCorkle unable to handle the parallel story lines well. Perhaps the plot ties together in the end (I just couldn't get that far, I really tried!), but the impression I got was of jerking back and forth between stories that may have stood better on their own. For examples of successful books employing the parallel-lives technique, see Tom Wolfe's *A Man in Full* or Michelle Huneven's *Round Rock.* I've gathered in reading reviews that McCorkle is being hailed as a great new Southern author; I found no Southern flavor at all in this book. These silly characters could have lived anywhere. I guess I'll stick to Rita Mae Brown when I want a taste of the South.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First time McCorkle, April 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Carolina Moon (Ballantine Reader's Circle) (Paperback)

Carolina Moon was my first venture into work by Jill McCorkle, but it certainly won't be my last. I loved the characters in this book: Quee, Denny, Tom. And it's been a long time since I read a book and laughed outloud, not once but often. There's more to it than just laughs,however. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys great characters, intriguing plotting, and mystery. And if you don't think that having great fun with a book automatically means it can't also be great fiction, then this may be the book for you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Carolina Moon has great charm and depth, August 2, 2004

By 

Me (Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Carolina Moon (Audio Cassette)

okay, all you people who said you didn't like this book didn't say something about the book. You said something about yourself. In a world of cynical people who expect something bigger out of the story than just pure human emotion do not realize what you're missing. This book is full of beautiful prose that tell you everything about the characters even if a particular chapter is not from their point of view. I had the privelage of seeing her read excerpts from this masterpeice aloud and it was wonderful! She truely is a great storyteller and this book is fabulous!