Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind: A Novel (Paperback)

~ (Author) "I'D JUST CAUGHT my breath after the shock of my husband's sudden passing when his last legacy showed up on my front porch..." (more)
Key Phrases: Wesley Lloyd, Hazel Marie, Deputy Bates (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Charming Southern eccentrics breathe life into a predictable story of a proper Presbyterian wife ("Miss Julia") who finds her true self after the sudden death of her husband of 44 years, wealthy but parsimonious banker Wesley Lloyd Springer. Julia is becoming accustomed to the role of rich widow when another shock intrudes: Hazel Marie Puckett appears on the front porch wearing "heels too high, a dress too short, and hair too yellow," with a nine-year-old boy in tow whose "eyes were so much like Wesley Lloyd's it was like looking at her husband before she ever met him." Hazel Marie is on her way to beauty school in Raleigh, N.C., since Wesley senior left no provision for her support, and Miss Julia realizes that she must take her husband's "last legacy" into her home. Meanwhile, her inheritance attracts a variety of small-town opportunists, beginning with Pastor Ledbetter, who insinuates that her departed husband planned to leave his money to the church, then enlists the aid of "Christian psychologist" Dr. Fred Fowler to prove Miss Julia's incompetence in a court of law. Ross's characters resist their stereotypical outlinesAMiss Julia's black maid, Lillian, might talk like a character from Gone with the Wind, but she provides the strategy for retrieving Little Lloyd Jr. when he's abducted by Hazel Marie's shifty uncle, Brother Vern, a televangelist who also has designs on Miss Julia's money. Miss Julia's luck turns when, ransacking the pantry for Lillian's cache of Oreos, she comes across a Winn-Dixie sack secreted by Little Lloyd, which contains a new will and testament from the dead Lloyd Sr. Along with its homespun appeal, the novel offers an interesting take on gender, race and family in the South; it's fast-paced and funny despite Ross's persistent asides to readers and reference to serious issues (the church's stance on homosexuality and abortion). In the end, Miss Julia's prim self-absorption gives way and she begins to "feel like a real person, saying what she was thinking instead of packing it down inside." Agent, Peter Miller/Delin Cormeny. Author tour. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

When Hazel Marie Puckett and her nine-year-old son, Little Lloyd, show up on Julia Springer's doorstep in Abbotsford, North Carolina, Miss Julia receives the shock of her long and proper life. After 44 years of marriage to pillar-of-church-and-community Wesley Lloyd Springer, she discovers that while she had assumed he was working late at the family bank, he was engaged in other, more carnal, pursuits. For, as Hazel Marie shyly explains, Little Lloyd is Miss Julia's late husband's son. His arrival in Miss Julia's life sets off a chain of events that involves a hypocritical minister, a violent beating, a crooked televangelist, a high-speed car chase, a kidnapping, and a surprising revelation about her late husband's will. Miss Julia not only speaks her mind but also comes to a deeper understanding of the meaning of love, friendship, and trust. First novelist Ross loses control of her material here and there, veering between farce and soap opera, but this is a light and entertaining story, eminently suitable for Jan Karon fans. Nancy Pearl --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 Paperbacks; Other Printing edition (August 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688177751
• ISBN-13: 978-0688177751
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (137 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,058 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Southern womanhood, August 24, 2001

By	"janmcalex" (Humboldt, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This rip-snorter of a novel revolves around the mess Miss Julia inherited from her late husband, Wesley Lloyd -- bank president and pillar of the community. It seems that, unbeknownst to Miss Julia, Wesley Lloyd had fathered a child, a child who is subsequently left on her front porch by his mother who then disappeared. Miss Julia is bombarded by gossipmongering fellow parishioners from the Presbyterian Church, a pastor who is long on greed and ambition and short on sympathy and comfort, a televangelist with dollar signs in his eyes, and, well, Heavens, what is a woman to do? As Miss Julia reminds us readers many times over, she didn't ask for any of this! This knee-slapper is actually fairly accurate in its presentation of women "sheltered" by men, women who are "taken care of" and not allowed to "worry" about anything. The story is well paced and plotted and offers surprises and excitement. My book club was unanimous in its opinion -- this is a winner!

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gut Splitter, August 24, 2000

By	luther d butler sr "lbutler" (Stephenville, Tx USA) - See all my reviews

"MISS JULIA SPEAKS HER MIND," pokes fun at every institution in the Old South from city officials, the clergy, and even the home and marriage. At the same time that the novel is poking fun, it is the funniest novel I have read in many a moon. Miss Julia is a terrific character who faces life head on and comes out on top of every situation. The church (Presbyterian) is pictured as a meddling money grabbing institution that uses modern medical knowledge along with the legal system to better its self. I especially liked the way Miss Julia handled her nymphomania! Some of the words I would use to describe this book are delightful, extremely humorous, tender, and a must read.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Southern Humor shines in Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind, July 14, 1999

By	[e-mail] (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind: A Novel (Hardcover)

Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind represents the best of Southern humor--it's quirky, candid and offers keen observations on the social rules that govern life in a small town. While some have likened it to Jan Karon's Mitford books, I find it closer in tone to Michael Malone's Handling Sin or John Kennedy Toole's Confederacy of Dunces. Miss Julia has much more pepper than any of the Mitford residents I've come across, and her unveiling of hypocrisy spares no-one. Still, the novel is good-natured at its heart and the narrator's warmth and vitatility are what ultimately triumph.

For a fast-paced, hilarious and thoroughly fun summer read, this is the book to pick.