Everyone’s favorite proper Southern lady is back and feistier than ever in her sixth hilarious adventure
Imagine Aunt Bee from The Andy Griffith Show with a lot more backbone and confidence," wrote Publishers Weekly about Miss Julia, Ann Ross’s endearing Dixie doyenne of decorum. In her latest romp, Miss Julia—now Mrs. Sam Murdoch—returns from her whirlwind elopement, only to find herself roped into Hazel Marie’s scheme to raise money by throwing a beauty pageant. Though it all seems a tad distasteful, it’s nothing compared to the revelation that Pigeon Forge, the marriage mill across the state line that wedded Julia and Sam, might not be legitimate. And a flustered Julia can’t help wondering whether she and Sam can keep up appearances before the town finds out they might be living in sin.
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.
Miss Julia, that spitfire of a widow from North Carolina, has gone and eloped with lawyer Sam Murdoch. Avid readers of this series will remember that Sam pursued Julia at every turn, and she was too close to see his attention for what it was. She's still not sure about his intentions, even though they're now married -- or are they? Seems the minister they ran to in Tennessee wasn't ordained by a legal church. Ooops! So Julia and Sam are in trouble, as are a few dozen other couples and a famous country singer whose wedding-gone-awry story appears in a supermarket tabloid.
That's only the minor storyline here. The big news is that Hazel Marie is planning a local beauty contest, and to that end she enlists the help of Miss Julia and her nemesis, Etta Mae Wiggins. The six contestants must be taught how to walk, talk, dress, and make themselves appealing to the audience and the three judges. Hazel Marie and Etta Mae do most of the work with the girls, so no formal School of Beauty exists. But to Miss Julia's credit, she takes the most needy contestant under her wing and does pretty well with her. And the pageant is a success.
Other readers may think this episode is somehow lacking, but I laughed out loud more than once at Miss Julia's observations and succinct assessments. Her constant appraisal of everything that comes her way is one of her endearing qualities. She *does* need to calm down where Sam is concerned and simply trust that he is indeed a good man who is hopelessly devoted to her. Perhaps time will tell in that respect.
An entertaining read with memorable characters.
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Miss Julia and Sam Murdoch have eloped to the Smoky Mountains and have had a family honeymoon at Dollywood. Unfortunately, there seems to be some doubt as to whether the wedding chapel preacher is really qualified to perform weddings. Since proper behavior is #1 with Miss Julia, she tells Sam that they must have separate quarters until the marriage mystery is cleared up. Meanwhile Hazel Marie, Miss Julia's erstwhile housemate, is involved in a beauty pageant which will raise money for the sheriff's department. She, Miss Julia, and the flirtatious Etta Mae Wiggins, are in charge of the pageant and the contestants, a rag-tag group of six girls which present a real challenge to their mentors. This book is not quite as much fun as its predecessors in the series, because of Miss Julia's unfounded concerns about Sam's fidelity and whether he truly wants to be married to her. Otherwise, it's the usual romp with the characters which have become to beloved in the other books.
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While I enjoyed this latest "Miss Julia" novel, some of the aspects of the series are getting a little old. For instance, Julia's tendenancy to jump to conclusions and get herself into a completely misdirected tizzy is starting to feel farfetched and tiresome. As is the meddling of her "friends" and neighbors. When Julia's friend, Luanne Conover, wants to throw Julia and Sam a wedding celebration and Julia refuses, Luanne chews her up one side and down the other. I cannot believe that anyone would put up with it the way Julia does. And the day my pastor aimed his sermon at me specifically would be the day I found another church. For such a strong, opinionated character, Julia sure lets people run rough-shod over her.
The premise of "School of Beauty" is that Hazel Marie is organizing a beauty pagent to help raise funds for the sheriff's department. Miss Julia is brought in to help the contestants with deportment. The second story line is that the validity of Julia's and Sam's marriage is called into question when it surfaces that the minister who performed the ceremony in Pigeon Forge, TN might not be authorized by the state to officiate. Of course, this causes problems for our ever proper Miss Julia as she goes into full panic mode about "living in sin" (another far-fetched notion...I mean, we are in the 21st century and no one will sew a scarlet A to her blouse). All I can say is, God bless Sam for putting up with her.
All in all, it was a good book, but the character of Miss Julia isn't continuing to evolve into the strong, independent woman I hoped she'd be. She still cares too much about what others think and still allows their opinions to dictate her actions.
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First Sentence:
I am sick and tired of people asking how married life's treating me. Read the first pageKey Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Hazel Marie, Miss Wiggins, Little Lloyd, Miss Julia, Etta Mae, Emma Sue, Sonny Sutton, Miss Easley, Ashley Knowles, Wesley Lloyd, Preacher Kincaid, Sheriff Frady, Thurlow Jones, Willie Pruitt, Melanie Easley, Miss Knowles, Miss Peavey, Abbot County, Miss Washington, Pastor Ledbetter, Aaron Kincaid, Eunice Knowles, Miss First Watch, Miss Lillian, Lieutenant Peavey
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