A Cure for Dreams (Paperback)

by Kaye Gibbons (Author)
Key Phrases: Polly Deal, Milk Farm Road, Amanda Bethune (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
An engaging portrait of a possessive mother and her obedient daughter, limned against a larger canvas depicting women's roles in southern society. Author tour.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This episodic novel, Gibbons's third, is set during the Depression in back-country Virginia and Kentucky. In 19 vignettes, Betty Davies Randolph reveals her childhood and her mother's life along Milk Farm Road. Gibbons, winner of several literary awards for her first novel Ellen Foster ( LJ 4/15/87), has captured magnificently the dailiness and sense of community of rural life--from midwives and WPA ballads to suicides and men gone wild. Southern, and full of the folk wisdom of generations, Gibbons's voice reveals life's truths: "Listen and hear what men call their wives. . . . It's easier without a mother at a borning. . . . The ears are the most important parts of a baby." Times are tough--Betty's father kills himself and is found upside down on his head in the river with "rocks on either side, like bookends"--but the women are amazingly resilient; they help each other survive. As an old woman, Betty dies in "her chair talking, chattering like a string-pull doll," but the reader is assured that the storytelling will go on through her daughter and "the sounds of the women talking." Recommended.
- Doris Lynch, Oakland P.L . , Cal.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (June 30, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679736727
• ISBN-13: 978-0679736721
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #533,283 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a South I never knew, November 2, 2001

By	Porter Crane (Wokingham, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

Kaye Gibbons' books all focus on a South that I have never known. That said, I love this place that she creates. It is a bit of old-school South, in that it seems like bad things are just bubbling under the surface, waiting to burst free. This is the same world that Faulkner, Dickey, and Welty inhabit. A world where human passions are often dark and where salvation is often not forthcoming. But unlike the others, Gibbons's character's are frequently rescued from the pit by their relationships with family. All of her books have a bittersweet poignancy that will leave you feeling tearful and introspective, but not depressed. I have enjoyed all of her books.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful style..., December 22, 2000

By	Matthew Turner (Berea, Kentucky USA) - See all my reviews

I found this novel to be perfect for the person who wants to get his or her mind off of things. A CURE FOR DREAMS travels through several generations in the American south, allowing us into the lives of an interestingly eccentric family. The language used in the books, the ways the words flow, if pure genius. Gibbons has done it again.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Sweet Little Story (and a One Day Read), October 28, 2004

By	Rebecca Kinson (Fredericksburg, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"A Cure for Dreams" is the story of a mother's life, as told to her daughter. The characters are lovable and the story moves quickly. There is no actual plot or finale; it's more like a chat session between mothers and daughters.

Though not as noteworthy as "Ellen Foster," this book is enjoyable and I highly recommend it. It's a small book, and due to the interesting dialogue, most readers will keep turning pages and finish on the same day they started.