Customer Reviews

Making Waves in Zion

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked up Making Waves in Zion when I was home with the flu, and by the time I reached page 100, I forgot that I was sick! Set in the small Alabama town of Zion, this clever book features 4 different first person narratives, all in a unique southern dialect, and each of the narrators represents a different aspect of modern rural culture. As someone who was raised in a small town, I could identify the characters as my old neighbors and friends. The language and imagery was mesmerizing, and the characters practically breathed with their own motivations and desires. Plus, the book is stocked with outrageous scenes that were truly funny. I look forward to reading future works by Ms. Ray, since I recognize in her the potential to recapture the southern voices that fade with every passing year.

Ms Ray has written a marvelous and accomplished first novel that would make an excellent movie. The characters are well defined, the plot compelling, and the central mystery of the book keeps the reader turning pages until the end. But it is the authenticity of the voices that is most impressive. You can "hear" the various narrators clearly in your mind, and you want to cheer for all of them. I highly recommend this book to lovers of Southern fiction, and I anxiously await Ms Ray's next novel!

Bought this book last week on a recommendation, read it from cover to cover in 1 evening!! What a fascinating story...makes me feel as if I had grown up in the Deep South. Looking forward to the next one.

Sincerely

Stanley Cohen

When I read a customer review saying that the author Sandra King Ray is also Mrs. Pat Conroy, I had to read this book because he's my favorite author and I look for writers like him. I should have been disappointed, because Mrs. Conroy does not write like her husband, with his rich and lush imagery or his intriguing plots. Instead of feeling let down, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and now am anxious to read not only Mr. Conroy's next book but also Mrs. Conroy's. Her characters especially are very real. I laughed and cried with them and didn't want to let them go when I put the book down--I wanted to know what happened to them. It's the kind of book that begs for a sequel.

Sandra King has done a wonderful job writing about the typical small town in the south. If you grew up in the south or know anything about the small towns in Alabama you will truly enjoy this story as it takes the reader back in time to the way things were several generations ago in rural Alabama. It is a delightful story and I anxiously await her next book.

I search the shelves of bookstores looking for somthing entertaining, informative and well written. Sandra Conroy - yes, she's Pat's wife - is a huge talent whose day in the sun is about to dawn! I loved her book - and I bought 10 copies for friends. In a word, it's simply wonderful.

This book is Southern fiction at it's finest! The setting is a small Alabama town centered on the local beauty shop. It reminded me of Cold Sassy Tree. The characters come alive and you literally can't put it down until you finish! I've heard it is being released in paperback which will make it even more appealing! Southern writer Pat Conroy highly recommends this book, in his words, "it's a wonderful and hilarious novel. The book sounds as if the whole South got together in the back yard and started telling the stories that really count." (By the way Ms. Ray recently married Mr.Conroy which makes the book even more intriguing!) If you haven't read this book you have really missed a treat!

Once I started reading this book I was hooked and didn't want it to end. The characters are unforgettable.

Must the South remain so blatantly the victim? This is another juvinile "blame the world for our woes" tale. Writing was okay but not worthy of more than a B- in a Freshman Eng Lit 101 class.