Series: Southern Comedy of Manners | Publication Date: March 31, 2003
Miss Julia-that proper lady of a certain age with a backbone of iron and perfect steel magnolia poise, not to mention the sharpest tongue south of the Mason-Dixon Line-always likes to nip any little problems in the bud. Not this time. Miss Julia is increasingly concerned about her gentleman friend, Sam, who has suddenly started wearing cowboy boots, sending flowers, and writing bad poetry. When he shows up on a Harley-Davidson one day, she's convinced that he's lost his mind-or is at the very least wrestling with a particularly intense midlife crisis.
Meanwhile, Miss Julia's invaluable housekeeper, Lillian, and all her neighbors have been evicted from their homes by their greedy landlord, who has bigger plans for the property. So off Miss Julia rides (in the sidecar, naturally)-wearing a Leslie Fay shirtwaist and a black-visored helmet-risking life and limb on a poker run, a motorcycle fund-raiser to save Lillian and her friends' home. Hitting a few bumps on the way, Miss Julia still manages to maintain the impeccable manners and irresistible charm that keep her readers coming back again and again.
Fourth in a popular series about a Southern widow with perfect manners and a taste for trouble, Ross's latest will bring a chorus of "Thank you, Lord"s from faithful readers. Newcomers may need a moment to figure out who's who in the cast-for instance, that Little Lloyd is the son of Julia's late husband, Wesley Lloyd Springer, and his "paramour," Hazel Marie, both of whom Julia has embraced as family. Ross's heroine may set a premium on appearances, like any traditional Southern lady, but what she really loves is problem solving and gracefully doing good. This time out, she finds herself championing her longtime housekeeper, Lillian. A greedy landowner is about to raze Lillian's home-in fact, the entire Willow Lane neighborhood, which houses low-income blacks. In order to save them, Julia gambles her own home and flouts her sense of propriety by donning Hazel Marie's leather pants and participating in a high-stakes motorcycle marathon and poker game, along with the Presbyterian minister's previously stodgy wife. And if that sounds improbable, factor in a spring whose water has an awesome effect on garden shrubbery and men's anatomy, furnishing oodles of delicious scandal. Series fans take note: Binkie and Coleman have a baby, and things look mighty promising between Julia and lawyer Sam Murdoch at the end of the book. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Ann is the mother of two daughters and one son, and the grandmother of four grandsons (including twin boys) and two granddaughters, both of whom are her namesakes. When her children were in college, she decided to complete her own education, enrolling in the University of North Carolina at Asheville where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Literature. Reluctant to return to an empty nest, she continued her education by enrolling in the English Department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned both the Master's and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Afterwards, she taught Literature and the Humanities at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
Ann's writing career began in the early eighties when two mysteries were published as original paperbacks: THE MURDER CURE and THE MURDER STROKE. A few years later, her first hardcover book was published: THE PILGRIMAGE, an adventure story set in the nineteenth century. All three books are now out of print, but occasionally a used copy of THE PILGRIMAGE appears on Amazon.com for sale.
The publication of the first Miss Julia book, MISS JULIA SPEAKS HER MIND in 1999, set Ann on a full-time writing career. This book went through six reprintings in less than a year, and was ranked #9 on the Independent Booksellers' seventy-six most highly recommended books for 1999. In addition, the book was named to the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers list. The paperback edition of the same book was listed in The Best Books of the First Five Years by BookSense, as one of the titles independent booksellers most enjoyed handselling. The book was also published by Readers Digest Condensed Books, appearing in twelve foreign languages.
MISS JULIA TAKES OVER was one of seven nominees for the Book of the Year Award (2001) by the Southeastern Booksellers Association.
All of the books in the series are available on audiotape and in large-print editions, and are also available through The Literary Guild/Doubleday Book Club. All of the books, except the newest one each year, can be found in paperback editions.
MISS JULIA THROWS A WEDDING, MISS JULIA HITS THE ROAD, MISS JULIA MEETS HER MATCH, and MISS JULIA'S SCHOOL OF BEAUTY have all appeared on the New York Times Extended Bestseller List.
All of the books in the series will be published in German, Japanese, and Croatian editions, as well as on audiotape (in English) and in large print editions.
Inspiration for the escapades of Ann's much-loved character, Miss Julia, comes in all manner of ways -- a chance remark by a friend or family member, an incident she happens to see, in a dream, or by being reminded of something in her past experiences. It is always deeply satisfying to her when scenes in the book she is working on suddenly seem to fit together to make a good story. She does not outline or make detailed plans before starting a story. She does, however, have a general plot in mind before beginning to write, but this usually entails only the conflict and the final resolution, with few ideas of how they will be worked out. So, with just the beginning and the end of a book decided on, Ann relies on the characters themselves to fill in the middle with first one subplot after another. This, she says, is the joy of writing -- when a character suddenly does or says something unexpectedly, leading her to funny and surprising 'mini-scenes' that seem to delight readers.
Ann was once asked by an interviewer how she knew when something she'd written was good. She replied, "I know it's good when I fall off my chair laughing." From that response, we can be sure that she enjoys writing about her characters as much as we enjoy reading about them.
This review is from: Miss Julia Hits the Road (Southern Comedy of Manners) (Hardcover)
I've thoroughly enjoyed all the Miss Julia books, but this one just might be the funniest one so far, or at least tied with the first book. Miss Julia's housekeeper and friend, Lillian, is about to lose her home and her neighbors are in the same predicament. Clarence Gibbs owns the houses and the surrounding property and is evicting everyone to tear it all down and build a water bottling plant, of all things. Miss Julia won't stand for it, though, and with the help of her friends and eventually the whole town, she sets out to raise enough money to buy the land and houses from Gibbs before he can carry out his plan. But to Miss Julia's dismay, the biggest fundraising event of all might be one she has to participate in herself: riding a motorcycle. Full of hilarity and fun, the fourth book in the series is just as good as the first three and shows that the series is far from losing steam. I can't wait for the fifth book.
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This review is from: Miss Julia Hits the Road (Southern Comedy of Manners) (Hardcover)
This book is WONDERFUL! Miss Julia and her escapdes keep getting funnier by the book. I have purchased this series for my mother and numerous friends, and don't know anyone who doesn't love this series. My sister in law is even reading them to her husband! This book is the funniest of the series, so far. One can just imagine this starchy lady hanging on the back of a motorcycle with torn leather pants, borrowed from Hazel Marie. I read books of all kinds, but these are my favorites. Do yourself a favor and read them all!
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 starsLots of Fun, April 23, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Miss Julia Hits the Road (Southern Comedy of Manners) (Hardcover)
When I first read the jacket blurb, I had doubts about Miss Julia and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. It just seemed like too much of a stretch. But I enjoyed reading this book from start to finish. It's every bit as delightful as the first book in the series, much funnier than #3. Frequently I had to stop reading just to laugh out loud. The bike ride is certainly wild, but I think my favorite moments in the book include when Hazel Marie yanks the hairpiece off her rival Tammi's head and when Miss Julia gets so mad at Pastor Ledbetter that she deliberately talks his wife into defying him.
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