Customer Reviews

Velva Jean Learns to Drive: A Novel

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is not Jennifer Niven's first book, but it is her first novel, and what a success! I haven't read her other books, but hope to soon. And, I hope this is not her last novel. I love this book and had a difficult time putting it down. I can't wait to share it with friends!

This is the story of Velva Jean Hart growing up in the Appalachians in the 30's & 40's. From a young girl who loses her mother and becomes quite a wild child to a very young preacher's wife, Velva Jean's story is filled with interesting characters. The character descriptions were so good that I felt like I knew each and every one of them -- heart and soul as well as physical appearance. Her grandparents, her brothers, the traveling preachers, the wood carver, the boys who worked on the highway all bring something interesting to the story.

My favorite character aside from Velva Jean is the Wood Cutter who most people are afraid of and believe to be a murderer. He lives alone up on the mountain and he and Velva Jean become the most unlikely of friends; his wisdom and friendship become very important to her. When she seeks counsel from him, he tells Velva Jean ,"The strongest trees are the ones that bend with the storms." Reading the final chapters of the book, I had to remind myself that although she is married, she is still just a teenager facing a lot of difficult decisions.

I highly recommend this book. It is the best novel I have read this year.

I have to admit, when looking at this book before getting it, it looked interesting. Then I got it. Then I thought about how I seem to be losing my taste for non-children's fiction. But... I felt obligated to read it anyway.

Where oh where did I get that odd desire not to read this?

While being somewhat on the cutesy side, this is a fantastic first novel that shows more raw talent than a lot of writers out there. Ms. Niven has a gift with words and even though I am a Western girl she managed to make me find a connection with this Appalachian town. The writing is clear, words well-chosen and never flowery, and the story is full of heart and meaning and interest. It is simply a good, down-home story that does not try to be pathetically original or controversial. It's just the story of a girl who wants to be a singer. So, even though that might rub some as the aforementioned cutesy, I for one certainly enjoyed it.

This is the tale of Velva Jean Heart who grows up in a small Appalachian community in the 1930s. Despite various family troubles, she clings to the dream of singing in the Grand Ol' Opery. She has the company of her grandfather, her brother, and a mysterious old murderer. Later, she marries a traveling preacher. They are all wonderful characters, for this is more of a character-driven story than a plot-driven one. And yet there are other characters, such as the Scenic Highway being built through their land that gets different opinions from folk, and the yellow truck her brother-in-law buys.

Niven seamlessly weaves all of this together into a touching, sweet story that explores the subtle changes in people. It's not absolutely perfect, but it certainly is wonderful and Niven should be proud.

This was a very well written, beautifully descriptive novel right from page one. Velva Jean and her family just jump off the pages and make you feel as though you're right there in 1930's-40's Appalachia with them.

I won't summarize this book as it's already been done here many times, but I absolutely recommend it for those interested. If you're a fan of Southern Fiction, or coming-of-age stories, then you will love this book. There's a little bit of everything here...love, loss, sex, violence, and the finding of one's self, but it's all done very tastefully. There's nothing vulgar or offending about this story. It's just a heartwarming journey with a young child of the mountains.

I really would say this is 3.5 stars.
This book was a little hard to get into at first and yet strangely I could not put it down. We first meet Velva Jean when she is 10 years old and watch as she grows older, marries and has to make a decision about pursuing her dream of singing in the Grand Ole Opry. I had to really get myself into the right frame of mind for this book. It takes place in the early 1930s and continues into the early 40s. So there were a lot of things that I was shaking my head over. I couldn't believe that it was unseemly for women to drive cars. I had never actually heard that before and would have smacked my husband if he tried to tell me I couldn't drive a car. But things like this were a part of every day life for Velva Jean. This just makes her dream of singing in the Grand Ole Opry that much more difficult to achieve. This was a time where women were supposed to marry, have children and take care of the family and house hold and be happy with it. The story did pull me in and I loved the cast of characters you meet like her brother, Johnny Clay, the wood carver who is supposed to be some sort of crazy half-animal murderer and Sweet Fern, her sister who has to put her own life on hold in order to take care of her brothers and sister after their mother dies and their father leaves home. Velva Jean's character often struck me as immature but then I would have to remind myself that she is not even 18 years old yet through most of the book so then I would find myself feeling sorry for her. The ending wraps up quite nicely with her learning the true reason her father left home and we finally learn the decision she makes whether to pursue her dream or pursue the love she has for Harley.

The Story

In 1933, Velva Jean was a 10 year old girl searching for entry into heaven by being saved in her belief in Jesus Christ. After she is baptized, her life as she knows it begins to crumble around her. Her father leaves the family home and very shortly thereafter her mother dies. She and her brother, Johnny Clay, are soon taken into the Appalachian Mountain home of their older sister, Sweet Fern. Although their father eventually returns, he never takes custody of them and their parenting remains the responsibility of Sweet Fern and her husband.

Velva Jean Hart's passion is music and she is a beautiful young singer. She dreams of one day singing at the Grand Ole' Opry. Johnny Clay supports her in this dream and spends his days being Velva Jean's best friend and companion. Their adventurous ways take them on mountain trails where they meet a cast of different characters. A mysterious man, known as "Wood Carver," becomes Velva Jean's unlikely friend. He was an outcast to this small society and believed to have murdered a man. However, Wood Carver is a man with a generous and wise spirit who encourages Velva Jean to follow her heart when she visits him.

At the young age of 15, Velva Jean and Johnny Clay visit a traveling church revival in which Velva Jean recognizes the young preacher to be a boy of the mountains and her youth. His handsome appearance and engaging words entrap Velva Jean in a young love. His attraction to Velva Jean was mutual and within a year she marries the irresistible young preacher, Harley Bright. Their honeymoon is cut short when they receive the telegram that Harley's mother has passed away. The newlyweds move into Harley's family home with his moonshine distilling father, Levi.

As major roads are being built into the mountains, tragedy strikes the family. Between the ages of 15 & 18, Velva Jean is a on road of self-discovery, love, and finding the true voice within her... will it drive her all the way to The Grand Ole' Opry?

The Review

This American family's story exposes to its readers what life in the Appalachian Mountains was like in the 1930's before major roadways were built through them and thereby connecting them to the outside world. Our heroine, Velva Jean, exudes the purity of heart and the human desire to make one's dreams come true. This novel is beautifully descriptive in both the setting and its characters. As such, the reader of this heartfelt novel desires to observe Velva Jean's happiness materialize.

This book was, for me, more than a plain family saga. It had plenty of unexpected twists and turns in the plot line that enriched the overall story. I enjoyed reading of the days of mining, bootlegging, and riding trains to visit nearby communities. What was difficult for me to relate to, yet completely comprehensible to me, was the thought of dying in the same small town that you were born in... where all of your community members know you, your family, and its legacy. At this time and in places such as these, the expectation of a young woman would be to marry within the locality, have babies, and be satisfied with that life. Women didn't have the same rights as the men and their place was in the home, with the children, and minding her husband. Cognitively, I am educated to know this as the truth within our history. However, placing that life into my imagination sends my thoughts into sadness. Women were so undervalued and under-utilized for their talents and minds. With my sassy mouth and sharp thinking, I certainly wouldn't have been experiencing a successful marriage in obedience to my husband had I lived in that time! On the flip side, maybe I wouldn't have known or thought to be any different.

Like Velva Jean, if a shiny yellow truck sat behind my house unused, I would learn to drive despite what the neighbors, or my husband, might think. As my spirit mirrors hers, I would never let go of my dreams and eventually find my way to achieve them... as long as it takes and no matter how difficult it may seem.

The Rating

On Sher's "Out of Ten Scale," I am giving Velva Jean Learns To Drive a rating of 8.5 out of 10. The story was brimming with the whispers of the mountains and the private wishes of the heart. There were a few things that I had wished for Velva Jean that she never got to experience, but I believe that Niven did this character great justice in the ending she wrote for her.

This novel was a little like reading the Grapes of Wrath go to Appalachia. The fact that much of the novel is based on the author's family history lent me a depth of understanding of their survival and stengths. Their struggles, hardships and loyalty to their "own kind" gave understanding to family feuds and prejudices I never understood before. It was a thought provoking book on many levels beyond Velva Jean's final flight to freedom.

An outstanding and heart-lifting novel-- impossible to put down, full of life, humor, sadness, love and truth.

Velva Jean and her family members are richly imagined characters who feel very real. I absolutely loved the author's depiction of Velva Jean's childhood in a North Carolina holler and the beautiful way in which her growth as a human being is depicted, in the context of relationships with those she loves.

This novel has so many wonderful aspects-- characters you love, family values you can appreciate, and a truly unique depiction of backwoods North Carolina culture in the 1930s-40s. Some will find Velva Jean's story similar to that of "The Waltons", due to it's sense of place, family, and community. Others will be reminded of The Secret Life Of Bees or Bean Trees, due to the strong true voice of our young female narrator. In some ways it is also reminiscent of Their Eyes Were Watching God, as the female narrator learns to make choices that are good for her own soul. But as a whole, I found this novel to be truly unique in its humor, its poetry, and its emotional honesty and resonance.

"Velva Jean Learns to Drive" is one of the best books I have ever read, and I look forward to sharing it with many of the people I love.

I love books about the Appalachian people (The Dollmaker, etc.) and this novel about Velva Jean and her coming of age story in the 1930's is a very enjoyable read. Velva Jean goes through her wild teen years only to become a preacher's wife. She is one character you care about, and really want to see her do well, and you won't be disappointed. It's a good story, with moonshining, and it's share of understated humor. My mother always said there were two things she was determined to do in her life- graduate from high school and learn to drive (both of which a lot of Southern women in her generation did not do in the South) so when I read this title, I was instantly interested. It was a good read, not a true "can't put it down" type of book, but definitely enjoyable.

VELVA JEAN LEARNS TO DRIVE

Loving Southern literature as I do, this book was a must for me. Jennifer Niven has painted a realistic picture of growing up in the mountains of North Carolina in the l930's and l940's.

We meet Velva Jean and her entire family and community. Such a tight-knit place, people looking after each other, believing totally in the Lord above, and just making do. Families were large, folks lived off the land, jobs were scarce.

Growing up with little or no material items made families close and more loving and Velva Jean's was no exception. After her mother passes, the children are raised by their older sister, Sweet Fern. Their escapades and daily lives were fun and crazy, their love for one another deep.

Life in the mountains was also a thing of beauty and freedom. Velva Jean and her kin roamed the mountains, lived off the mountains, and were sometimes at the mercy of the mountains.

Velva Jean has a love of singing and dreams of going to Nashville and become a famous singer. As she grows up, falls in loves, marries, her dreams are put on hold as she lives the life of a mountain woman and preacher's wife. Do her dreams come true? Does she get to Nashville? Will she be the person she wants to be and not be who others expect her to be? Read this book and find out.

The names of the characters are rich and wonderful. You will meet Daddy Hoyt, Johnny Clay, Aunt Bird, Sweet Fern, Linc, and Harley, the love of Velva Jean's life -- or is he? Read this sweet book and meet these people and find out.

As a sub-plot, many of the characters worked on the Blue Ridge Parkway which I have had the awesome experience of traveling on. The stories told in this book related to the construction of the Parkway and were of great interest and made that road even more exciting. Now, I am wanting to travel it again to see it through the eyes of the people who actually helped construct it and who lived in its path. It is a beautiful part of our country and one we should be proud of.

Read this book. It is filled with love, affection, fun, excitement, romance, and the hope that dreams may come true if only you let them.

Thank you!

Pam

...when I'm witness to someone gifted executing their skills, their talents, their abilities.

This can be athletics, it can be entertainment, teaching, politics...even something as simple as a great customer service, the managing of people, or parenting. It's a joy to watch someone in their element, executing what Bagger Vance referred to as their 'authentic swing'.

In 'Velva Jean, Ms Niven is in her element, executing her skills, her talents, her abilities...showing the reading world the wonder of her 'authentic swing'.

This novel was such a treat to read. I'm not very familiar with Appalachia, but the way the story is told, it sure rang true for me, its authenticity was unquestioned, without being dry or melodramatic. Niven displays a fine touch in so many ways that it's easy to forget what she's accomplished here, and maybe that's the highest praise I can offer, that of 'effortlessness'.

If I had any quibbles, it would be with the framing of the story, the focus, and this comes down to two things: Ms Niven's non-fiction background (one that reveals a sizable amount of acclaim) and the lack of editorial guidance. (Yes, *that* bugaboo again.) This tale, in its fully-fleshed-out incarnation, is due a masterful storyteller. The setting, the time-frame, the characters...it's all there. It's a gold-mine. And while the author accomplishes so very much here (I'm actually regretful for being such a wet-blanket...although I'd prefer to label myself a wet-facecloth), it never actually attains what it might have; I was very happy through about 275, 300 pages, but then disappointment began to seep in, and I found myself wondering 'What if...?' repeatedly. Mostly this had to do with the actual structure of the story, but I felt a deeper investigation of character was needed, even understanding that, as it was told in the first-person, there are limitations as to what can be relayed. More fiction experience might have added some oomph (or not), and better editorial input should have helped nudge the novel towards its potential for greatness. Having said this, please keep in mind that I'm giving 'Velva Jean' an 8.5/10, so it's not like I'm excoriating it because of its minor shortcomings.

I'd recommend Ms Niven's novel to anyone wanting a well-written piece of populist literature, a story with a heart as true as its narrator's.

(Personal rating: 8.5/10)