Miss Ophelia [Paperback]

Mary Burnett Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 1998

Part coming-of-age story and part slice of life, this is a literary novel about African-Americans in the rural South.

Set in rural Virginia during 1948, Miss Ophelia is a remarkable debut novel that explores the issues of abortion, illegitimacy, adultery, and skin color. Belly Anderson now in the autumn of her life, reminisces about the last summer of her childhood. A strong-willed and free-spirited eleven-year-old, she reluctantly leaves her home in rural Pharaoh and goes to Jamison to help her mean Aunt Rachel recover from surgery. Belly has two reasons for deciding to go to Jamison: She's left alone when her only friend becomes pregnant and is sent away, and she hopes that she'll be allowed to take piano lessons from her mother's childhood friend. While taking lessons from Miss Ophelia, she learns a terrible secret about her beloved teacher--a secret that forces Belly to grow up and learn what it really means to be an adult.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Through the poignant reminiscences of her 11-year-old protagonist, a shy bookworm in 1940s rural Viginia, retired schoolteacher Smith shows that "abortion, adultery, deceit, religious hypocrisy, and interracial discrimination" can be balanced with "filial and romantic love, loyalty, and forgiveness."
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

A gently affecting tale set in the apartheid-striated Virginia of 1948, where a young girl in a rural ``colored'' community learns something about the complexities of adult love. Eleven-year-old Belly (Isabel) lives with her bravely buoyant widowed mother Lizzie and her compassionate uncle Willie, who muffles his emotional wounds from the war with booze. Belly is a spikey, resilient kid who loves reading and banging on a neighbor's ancient piano, and who hates the prospect of going to the nearby town of Jamison to care for mean Aunt Rachel after her operation. She is deeply lonely there, but things look up when she begins taking piano lessons from Miss Ophelia, Lizzie's childhood friend, and days with gloomy Rachel are brightened some by her husband Avery, a real gentleman with a sense of fun. Little Jimmy next door is a pest who adores Belly and tags along, even to her lessons with Miss Ophelia. But Ophelia, meltingly kind, is a quiet goad to an adolescent conscience, and Belly learns better Jimmy-management. The three weeks Aunt Rachel is in the hospital are paradisiacal, as Miss Ophelia's music, lemonade, and the scent of summer flowers serve to bring together in companionship young and old alike, offering them a fragile shelter from the unpleasant facts of their existence: Avery (his odd marriage); Jimmy (abused by his parents); and Belly, beginning to emerge into a muddled awareness of adolescence. Lovely Miss Ophelia, though, has a secret, a shocker, having to do with a hidden love. Its revelation will help Belly to understand that there is a kind of triumph in commitment, sacrifice, and deep, true love. Smith has richly realized the ritual courtesies and dynamic village unity of an isolated community, and her people are as warmly familiar as good neighbors. An attractive first novel, then, told with a smooth pro confidence, and with the style and ambiance of postWW II popular fiction. (Literary Guild alternate; author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (September 16, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688163572
• ISBN-13: 978-0688163570
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,757,446 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A hard book to put down., March 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Miss Ophelia (Hardcover)

Miss Ophelia was one of the best books I've read this year. It started out slow for me in the beginning, but after reading one-third of the book I had a hard time putting it down. My favorite character was Uncle Willie. He didn't believe in keeping secrets from his 11-year old niece Isabel which I felt was very important. He also had a great sense of humor. When you're open and honest with young people you can prevent them from making the same mistakes you and others have made in the past. I wish someone had done that for me.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So Beautifully Written!!, May 23, 2002

By 

"petershowers" (Jacksonville,FL,USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miss Ophelia (Paperback)

This book hit me where the heart is!!! The characters: Belly, Willie, Miss Janie, Miss Rachel, Mama, Uncle Avery, Miss Pheenie, And of course, the lovely and dearest of all, Miss Ophelia. When I first got into the book,( first quarter of the book),It primarily focused on teen pregnancy and the main character (Belly's) best friend, Teenie getting sent away to get "rid of her problem", which hurt Isabel Anderson/Walker.
The way the book portrays Miss Opelia, and her warm and kind personality was so well-written, that in the end, I cried, thinking about the True love that could never be, between...
Oh!!!!! Youre just going to have to read the book and see why most of these people(including myself, of course) rated this book 5 stars.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I didn't want it to end!, January 20, 2000

By 

Dee Dee "deeliteful_dd" (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miss Ophelia (Paperback)

This is the best book that I have read in a while, and I read a lot of books. It was simply a delight to read. The author did a masterful job of bringing Belly to life and describing her thoughts and feelings. I loved Belly and almost all of the characters in the story; in fact, I felt like I knew many of them. I can't wait to read the author's next book. If you haven't read this one, please, please, please, go out and buy it today!