Customer Reviews

South of Resurrection

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

 

 

The strengths of Jonis Agee as a novelist, her precise observations, her attention to small details, and her complicated, well drawn characters, shine through in this novel. Like "Sweet Eyes," her first novel, "South of Resurrection" peels through the layers of a small town to get at some basic human truths. Agee is particularly effective at portraying a landscape and the people who live on it. Her protagonist, Moline Bedwell, tears through the novel with the past chasing her. The inevitable collision of the past with her return to her home town fulfills the promise of the opening pages.

Throughout my time with this novel I kept hoping some of the main characters would PLEASE take a bath! Moline seemed to keep herself fairly clean (when not shoveling manure and cleaning out filthy water tanks) but Dayrell was always dirty and suffering from various injuries that left him bloody and broken. All the more reason, it would seem, to exclude most of the sex scenes which were cringe-inducing exercises in showing us hillbilly love. I actually skimmed through or ignored those particular passages altogether.
The story itself was interesting enough though it lagged in parts; in short: Heart Hog Corp. is endeavoring to wipe out the local farming community by constructing a monstrous, industrial-sized hog farm of it's own and recruits one or two soulless locals to use some redneck mafia tactics so the good folks will cave in. Moline comes home after years away and joins the anti-Heart Hog crusade, rekindles an ancient romance with Dayrell and generally tries to help some of her relatives spiff up the family farm. Chaos ensues.
Agee's gift lies in creating unique characters, though in my opinion the males are more well-drawn. A pitiful cousin of Moline's, Lukey, is just that - pitiful in her unwavering love for a philandering, violent bully who just happens to be Dayrell's brother. The two even shared Lukey for awhile. But I digress. I never could get a clear picture of Moline and Lukey in my head; Dayrell occluded them with his various and sundry odors and general hillbilliness (I know that's not really a word). One thing is for sure: everyone in Moline's small Missouri hometown can drive beautifully while intoxicated.
I don't regret reading it, but Agee's The Weight of Dreams is much better.

This is a good story with an interesting protagonist and a compelling conflict between small town and corporate America. But Jonis Agee is ill-served by her editor/copyreader, and errors in the most basic of English constructions become too distracting.

Having read both "Weight of Dreams" and the "The River Wife" and loving them both, I decided to give this older story by Jonis Agee a try. Although I loved the premise of the book and Agee's vivid descriptions of the Ozark country, the main character, Moline, left me flat and for some reason and I couldn't even put a face on her. I had no problems with the descriptions of Dayrell, his crazy brother, Aunt Walker and even Lukey but I still have no idea who Moline was, what she looked like and her past life left much to imagination, especially her son.'

I love Ms. Agee's writing style and am hoping for something new from her soon.

The strengths of Jonis Agee as a novelist, her precise observations, her attention to small details, and her complicated, well drawn characters, shine through in this novel. Like "Sweet Eyes," her first novel, "South of Resurrection" peels through the layers of a small town to get at some basic human truths. Agee is particularly effective at portraying a landscape and the people who live on it. Her protagonist, Moline Bedwell, tears through the novel with the past chasing her. The inevitable collision of the past with her return to her home town fulfills the promise of the opening pages.