Peeking Between the Pages

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Book Review: Going Down South by Bonnie J. Glover

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Going Down South is one of my favorite books this year. I really enjoyed it. This story is about three generations of women in a family-Birdie, Daisy and Olivia Jean-all head strong and stubborn in their own way. It’s such a strong story about the connections between mothers and daughters-the good, the bad, and the stuff that ultimately keeps you together. It’s set in the South in the 60’s and touches on so many issues: color, teen pregnancy, and relationships. The story is told from the point of view of all of the women and it goes back and forth from the past to the present but doesn’t leave you feeling confused, just more understanding of the story itself.

I loved Olivia Jean from the start-she’s a sweet girl who works hard in school. Her relationship with her parents leaves her wanting so much more. For her parents it seems, all that is in their world is each other. Ultimately, Olivia Jean ends up pregnant. I think she was just craving the attention and it ended up being the wrong kind. A quote from Olivia Jean that I really liked and shows really how she was feeling was…and this comes from a time when she’s asked if she knows how to be a mother…
  • ‘No, but I do know how not to be one. I’ve seen that firsthand. And I do know what I have to give this baby: patience. I have more than mama does, lots more love, lots more time.’—pg 58

Birdie I loved from when I first met her. She’s a strong woman and she has plans of putting her family back together. I think she was very well aware that the problems of the family stemmed down through the generations and they needed to be fixed before it was too late again. One of my favorite parts is when Birdie invites Daisy to mud wrestle with her to get out their frustrations of being mad at each other. It was amusing but really it was a huge part as it was a turning point for the women to begin mending their relationship.

Finally Daisy, she is Birdie’s daughter and Olivia Jean’s mother. In the beginning of this book I really didn’t like her. I also really didn’t know her yet. As the story progresses we learn so much more about Daisy and then the reasons for some of her actions become more clear-still not right but at least they make more sense. I loved all the women but I think Daisy came the furthest in terms of healing and going forward-she went from someone I didn’t like to someone I genuinely cared for by the end of the novel. For Daisy’s, her intense love for Turk was crazy to the point of making her daughter suffer for it. This passage from Daisy really sums up for me her growth…

  • ‘She looked out the window past the small dirt yard and to the horizon, watching the moon. And she thought of the journey the Earth made each day, twenty-four endless hours around the sun. And there were the things that happened on Earth, the love, the hatred, the petty jealousies, and then the peace that came after all the drama finished. The peace that God promised, the one that surpassed all the understanding and she knew that she had it. All her secrets were out in the open. That was her peace. She no longer had to hold on to anyone, man or woman.’ —pg 239-240

All of the women in this novel learned something about themselves and about how their lives had been affected by the men that they had been with. These women change throughout the story to finally come together in the end as the family they are meant to be. The author has written this book in a way that draws us into the characters lives so completely. She has made them so real. I missed them so much when I closed the cover on the last page. I wanted more, I wanted to know what would happen to each and every one of them in the future.

This novel would make a great book club pick. There is just so much going on to discuss. You can check out the noontime chats that J.Kaye, me, Shana, Dawn and Yasmin had on each of these stops…

There is also reading group questions and topics for discussion in the back of the book along with a conversation with Bonnie. You can check out Bonnie’s website here. For me, this was a great book and I loved it!

Other blogger reviews here at Diary of an Eccentric, Redlady’s Reading Room. Any others, let me know.

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Comments

  2. this definitely sounds like a great read.. i was following your noon time chats and realized that i would love to read this book!:) thanks for the awesome review!:)

  3. This book is everywhere. Anna’s read it too and now I think I just have to add it to that darn tbr list. LOL

  4. “It’s such a strong story about the connections between mothers and daughters-the good, the bad, and the stuff that ultimately keeps you together.”

    This was enough to get me interested. I’ll keep this book in mind for next year’s Southern Reading Challenge!

  7. I FINALLY found my copy of this. The kids had it hidden for a few days. I hope to finish it tonight actually, and write my review this weekend. I’ll be back to read yours then!

    Shana
    Literarily

  10. Kathy, I like books set in the South too. They just seem to have such a charm about them.

    Ramya, I think you would enjoy this one. The noontime chats are so fun.

    Serena, what’s one more added to the list. lol.

    Nymeth, I think this would be perfect for a Southern Reading Challenge.

    Naida, thanks. Yes this book has been making it’s way around lately. I enjoyed it.

    J.Kaye, it was. The chats are fun. It’s almost like a mini book club meeting. lol.

    Shana-lol. You should finish it fast. I found it hard to put down. I wanted to keep seeing where the story was going to take me.

    Veens, thank you 🙂

  11. I love southern fiction and this sounds like exactly the type of book I would LOVE to read. Your review was very insightful. Thanks!

  12. Thank you for a wonderful review. It was a pleasure spending time with all of the bloggers last week and getting a feel for what folks thought of the characters. As I said before, I’ve had a perspective shift and now I see the characters — Olivia Jean, Daisy and Birdie a little differently. They are one– a woman struggling from youth to the brink of old age (I won’t dare call Birdie old) to be mothers.

    Motherhood is the hardest job in the world.

    Thanks for your comments. Please keep GOING DOWN SOUTH in mind as a great holiday gift and truly, I appreciate the discussion.

    Bonnie
    http://www.BonnieGlover.com

  13. P.S. – I have a short story on my website — YOUNG BLOOD and I’d appreciate your comments. I am thinking about writing a book (after this third one) with the characters from YOUNG BLOOD and would appreciate your comments.

    Bonnie
    BonnieGover.com

  14. Lisa, thanks. I really like Southern fiction too.

    Bonnie, thanks for popping by. It was great how you joined in our conversations. It’s nice to get the author’s point of view on what they’ve written. This was a great book for discussion, that’s for sure. I’ve passed on my copy to another reader to enjoy already. Bonnie, I will check out that short story soon.

  15. Great review, Dar! I also loved this book! I think it’s interesting that we both chose the same passage about Daisy to highlight in our reviews. The change in her was just incredible.

    I added a link to your review to mine, which is here.

    –Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

  16. Anna, lol-great minds think alike. I’m going to link yours to mine too. I didn’t remember that you had read it.