Getting the Important Things Right [Kindle Edition]

Padgett Gerler (Author)

Book Description

A powerful and provocative debut novel, GETTING THE IMPORTANT THINGS RIGHT follows the lives of West Point graduate Colonel Thomas McChesney Albemarle, III and southern debutante Lydia Rose Carlyle Albemarle (Colonel Tom and Ma’am to all) from their first meeting at the Officers’ Club at Fort Bragg, North Carolina during World War II to The Colonel’s death forty years later. While Colonel Tom physically and emotionally batters his family, Ma’am escapes the turmoil with alcohol. Their children, Percy, Sis and Oops, with no adult guidance, learn to sidestep their family minefields alone. Percy longs for a loving relationship with his father but is unwilling to compromise his aspirations of owning a motorcycle repair shop to win his father’s love. Sis wants a strong mother who will stand up to her abusive husband but finds herself in an abusive marriage, as well. Baby Oops escapes the chaos by teaching herself to read at three and retreating to her own world where abuse and parental neglect can’t reach her. Siblings Percy and Sis forge a loving bond that will sustain them through the most poignant and tragic of circumstances. Whether it’s eating an entire chocolate cake in one sitting, playing Cuss Scrabble, double dating to the drive-in movie, or stealing their father’s car to hotrod in the wee hours, the brother and sister find unbridled joy in their friendship, despite the dysfunction swirling around them. Told with captivating grit, humor, and insight, this tale of family discord carries the Albemarles through decades of turbulence until tragedy teaches them to forgive and understand by GETTING THE IMPORTANT THINGS RIGHT.

Product Details

• File Size: 483 KB
• Print Length: 274 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0078FXAWA
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #373,923 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Southern Page Turner March 21, 2012

By Kenai

Format:Kindle Edition

You will like this book. The writing is beautiful and the story line makes you feel like you are part of the characters' lives. Don't start reading this until you have time to finish it; I found myself rearranging my day to have time to read the next chapter. The characters are well developed and you will want to join them for time on the beach and another bag of "bawled" peanuts.

If you have any connections to the South, you will want to go home. If you are one of those unfortunate souls that have never experienced southern living, you will find yourself making plans to visit.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Page Turner March 22, 2012

By Port Orange

Format:Paperback

Treat yourself to this delightful book by new southern author, Padgett Gerler. You are immediately swept up in a tale so inviting and intriguing that it literally is hard to put down. The dysfunctional Albemarle family is a study in excellent character development, characters that stayed with me long after I had finished the book. It has turmoil and sadness and romance and great humor. Thank you, Padgett, for such an enjoyable read and please give us more, more, more.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Debut Novel March 3, 2012

By viewer

Format:Kindle Edition

Getting The Important Things Right is definitely worth your reading time. Padgett Gerler takes us inside the lives of an intriguing family. Colonel Tom, a cruel sadistic father and Lydia (Ma'am)his abused wife who hides inside alcohol and denial, are characters who make us wonder how their children could ever become normal adults. This book is the story of how the children, Percy, Sis, and Oops deal with the mental abuse they endured and how it affects their adult lives. Ultimately, they discover how to get the important things right.
From this debut novel, Padgett Gerler leaves me eagerly anticipating more of her superb writing.

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