What do You think about This One And Magic Life: A Novel Of A Southern Family (2001)?
I was quite surprised how often this novel really touched a cord while I was reading it. Very different from her light "Southern Sisters" mysteries. The characters were well drawn with depth and color, and the intricacies of family life well intimated. At one point George alludes to the fact that we never really completely know another person, even one we're incredibly close to, and that sometimes, we don't even know ourselves. I really appreciated the relationships between siblings, parents/children and the glimpses into married life. Plus the use of flashbacks and of ghosts or spirits was well done.But one of my favorite things was Donny remembering the dog days of August in his childhood and how he would wait for Hector to fall asleep in the room that the brothers shared so that he could turn the oscillating fan from movement to blow only on him. I wonder how many other siblings did that, and how many folks, when reading that, wondered if their sibling did that to them.....
—bookczuk
Artie was a well-known artist who has sold her paintings all over the world. But once she is diagnosed with cancer, her end comes quickly, too quickly. After her death, her family comes together at her home overlooking Mobile Bay to carry out her wishes. Her twin brother Donnie and his wife Mariel and her younger brother Hector are all surprised when they discover that she wishes to be cremated and for some members of her family, this is unacceptable. What follows is a long, drawn-out episode of how each family member must deals with Artie's life and death. There are flash-backs to when all three siblings were children and how they dealt with an eccentric mother and an alluding to a terrible secret that all three share but have never discussed. Mobile, Alabama is my hometown and I was very much looking forward to reading this book. I was disappointed. The flash-backs were a little too confusing, ghost showing up in the middle of the story and throwing the setting off. There is a secret that is barely revealed and not really dealt with. Overall, I was sad to not enjoy this book more.
—Kristal
2.5**When Artie Sullivan’s final wishes are revealed, her deeply Catholic family members are stunned. Her twin, Donnie, and younger brother, Hektor, along with other relatives and friends are emotionally reeling, and frequently lost in reverie. They all expected she would leave her home to her niece Dolly. No real surprise there, though they can’t imagine that Dolly will want to leave her job in Atlanta to live in the large beach-front home. What they can’t understand is why Artie would ask to be cremated and her ashes scattered in Mobile Bay. George has crafted some wonderful passages that lend wonderful Southern flavor to this slim novel. Her story includes humor along with grief. Family members own up to buried feelings of insecurity or jealousy. It sounds like a really good book, but somehow the whole thing just doesn’t gel. The chapters jump back and forth in time, revisiting long-dead members of the family; George then further confuses the reader by having those “ghosts” appear in various current-day scenes. There’s a hint of a long-kept secret that barely gets revealed and doesn’t really get explored. It would be fine for a beach book, but I don’t think there’s enough here for a meaningful discussion.
—Book Concierge
