Big Hair and Flying Cows (Sweet Meadows Series #1) [Hardcover]

Dolores J. Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2005

Bertie Byrd is unique. To say the least. She calls Sweet Meadow, Georgia, home, where she works for her father doing auto repairs. She also drives the tow-truck, although Sweet Meadow's rather colorful denizens tend to treat Bertie more like the local, free taxi service. You know, someone has to get to a doctor's appointment or pick something up at the dry cleaners. Bertie's favorite day of the week is Friday, when she leaves the wrecker with her father for the whole weekend and joins her friends at the Dew Drop Inn for a night of dancing. Her best friend, Mary Lou, sometimes fixes her up with dubious dates, although Bertie has to remind her friend not to tease her hair too high for those occasions. Like the time when they went to Carrie Sue's open house, and a ceramic cow with angel wings hanging from a ceiling fan locked its hooves into Bertie's big hair and refused to let go. She had to wear it all night, dangling chain and all. Bertie's nearly perfect life is about to take a downhill turn, however. It starts when her landlord, Pete, currently a resident in a nearby nursing home, starts showing up at her house. In his birthday suit. A very badly wrinkled birthday suit. And then she goes to her mailbox, a rubber large mouth bass, and finds a notice from the zoning commission saying she can no longer park the wrecker in her driveway. The notice is signed by George Bigham. But when she goes to the courthouse to take care of her little problem, it is only to discover George Bigham is deceased. And Mary Lou's pregnancy test just came up positive. Can it get any worse?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Laughter and tears are said to cleanse the soul. I should have the cleanest in the South," muses Bertie Byrd, the plucky heroine of this slapstick, folksy novel. When Bertie, who works at her father's auto repair shop, isn't under a car, behind the wheel of her tow truck or reluctantly ferrying the nutty residents of Sweet Meadow, Ga., around town, she's surviving or recounting scrapes. She fends off the advances of her best friend Mary Lou's smarmy cousin, horrified by his not so funky moves on the dance floor at the Dew Drop Inn. She arrives home from the bar to discover her demented, elderly landlord, Pete Forney, naked in her recliner. (He becomes a repeat intruder.) She fumes over official notices forbidding her to park her wrecker in her driveway, only to discover a dead man has mysteriously issued the decree. Could her life get any wackier? Enter Jeff, her sexy but shady new boyfriend, a mill worker who also moonlights as a stripper. Soon, Bertie is also fending off a stalker, who sends threatening letters signed "Jack." But Bertie is fortified by the love of dear friends and family, as well as that of a good man. Though Wilson's down-home prose can sometimes cloy, her debut novel is an affectionate chronicle of one woman's discovery that commitment, support and trust are closer than she thought. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–Bertie drives a tow truck for her father's auto shop in the small town of Sweet Meadow, GA. All she wants is to live a normal life, to find the man of her dreams, settle down, and escape the wrath of her church's Garden Club members. That's not easy to accomplish when the town's residents view her wrecker as a taxi service and will do anything to get a ride. It's not easy when an airplane rolls over her hand, breaking it, and her brother moves in with her while he's estranged from his wife. And it's definitely not easy when the elderly owner and previous resident of her house constantly sneaks out of the nursing home to visit. If she's lucky, he's in his pajamas. After an accident with a mattress makes the national news, Bertie begins receiving threatening letters full of wacky tips from her stalker, Jack. Readers will laugh as she heads downtown to file for a permit to park her vehicle in her driveway, only to discover that the official notices forbidding her to do so were signed by a dead man. Although Wilson's debut novel can sometimes seem over-the-top, it's still a wonderful read. Bertie is a true Southern woman, able to survive at any cost, and to do it with style. Readers will relate to her as she muddles through life and ultimately finds that commitment, love, support, and trust are closer than she thought.–Erin Dennington, Fairfax County Public Library, Chantilly, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 326 pages
• Publisher: Medallion Press (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932815171
• ISBN-13: 978-1932815177
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,923,060 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born a coal miner's daughter in Morgantown, West Virginia. At age eleven, we moved to Tampa, Florida. Quite a culture shock from that little coal mining town. My writing background consisted of a neighborhood newspaper my cousin and I published at age twelve. It was full of neighborhood gossip. Thank goodness we were too young to be sued for slander. In junior high school, I wrote a few articles for the school newsletter, mostly food articles. Hence, the seeds for my love of writing and food were planted.

In my first attempt at writing a novel, my hero was wimpy, my heroine was almost never in the story, and the actual writing left something to be desired. I had to do something. So began my journey of writing classes, RWA chapter meetings, and conferences. I found an eclectic group who not only shared my passion for writing, but were also not afraid to share the writing knowledge they had acquired along the way. I'm thankful to have found so many interesting people.

Someone is always asking, "How do you come up with that stuff?" For a long time, I'd answer, "It comes from a sick mind." Until one day it dawned on me no one ever argued the point. But I didn't take offense because they always smiled. I like to make people smile, and if I can make them laugh out loud, that's even better.

I hope that my writing brings a smile to your lips, or at least warms your heart.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fun And Quirky Read!!!, April 5, 2005

By 

Kristi Ahlers (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Big Hair and Flying Cows (Sweet Meadows Series #1) (Hardcover)

Ms. Wilson has created a wonderful little world made up of characters that are a combination of sweet to crazy. There is never a dull day in the life of Bertie Bryd! Still she manages to laugh, cry, and muddle through with a great sense of humor. The reader will do the same. This is one of the funniest books I've read in a very long time! This is basically a story about Bertie and her little corner of the world. Sweet Meadow, Georgia sounds like a fun place to live...or at least escape to!

Bertie drives a wrecker but she also acts as a taxi driver for Millie since she doesn't have a car (Millie is hilarious), is best friends with Mary Lou who is not always the brightest bulb in the package...and now Mary Lou is pregnant and Rex and she are getting married. Bertie has also found a boyfriend. Trouble with Jeff is she doesn't know much about him, but he's great looking. He's also a stripper and a mill worker. Than there's Arch, which is Pete's son. This is a great part of the story and without giving anything away one of my favorites. Than there is Pete himself. He keeps showing up inside the house she's renting (okay, he owns it but he now calls a nursing home his home now) sometimes dressed, sometimes not...and there are the times that he and his nursing home friends place the crank calls and what have you. Still Pete becomes a fixture of sorts around Bertie's home. And this is just a few of the characters that enrich this great story!

This story made me laugh, and cry! I love stories that offer characters that the reader can relate to and identify with. This story does just that. Ms. Wilson's debut effort is amazing! She is truly an author that bears watching in the future. Medallion Press has managed to add another wonderful jewel to their crown! I highly recommend that you run, not walk to your nearest bookseller to pick up "Big Hair and Flying Cows."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love to Read, Love to Laugh, February 27, 2006

By 

Vicki Hinze (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Big Hair and Flying Cows (Sweet Meadows Series #1) (Hardcover)

I adored this debut novel. I had read the reviews and was prepared for funny, but in places, this novel is hilarious. And Ms. Wilson's take on Southern women is so dead-on. In reading, I had flashes of relatives that were just amazingly accurately depicted. I love it that the protagonist fails her way to success. That just made the book for me. One question remains: When can we read Bertie's next adventure?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful and funny read!, May 18, 2005

By 

Book CraZ "BookcraZ" (Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Hair and Flying Cows (Sweet Meadows Series #1) (Hardcover)

Bertie the tow truck driver and a host of equally colorful characters make BIG HAIR AND FLYING COWS a reader's treat. It's funny and well-written. I'd compare it to Jan Karon's Mitford series or Tamar Meyers's Penn Dutch Inn mysteries as the author gives you a slice of small town life rich with drama, crises, and laugh-out-loud humor. I hope this is just the first in a series because I can't wait to read more of Bertie's adventures!