Deep in the southernmost part of Alabama, along the banks of a lazy winding river, lies the sleepy little community known as Lost River, a place t
Deep in the southernmost part of Alabama, along the banks of a lazy winding river, lies the sleepy little community known as Lost River, a place that time itself seems to have forgotten.
Some years ago I bought a set of Vintage ‘classic’ Christmas stories and I’ve been slowly working my way through them - one or two each Christmas. I’m not quite sure why I reached for Fannie Flagg over Somerset Maugham, or Italo Calvino, but I wanted something undemanding for Christmas 2020. In general, I’m not a fan of the Deep South and I steer clear of the hokey and the cutesy. I have to admit, though, that this story has a genuine warmth to it - and it even makes Alabama seem like an appealing place. It has Fannie Flagg’s characteristic humour, and although it is a bit cornpone, it is forgivably so.
This is definitely a community ensemble piece, but it does have three ‘sort of main’ characters, all of them orphans: Oswald T. Campbell (a Chicago native in bad health), an injured redbird named Jack and a crippled little girl named Patsy. The story does provide a Christmas miracle of sorts, but really it is about the power of community and how lonely people become part of a family. It is also about healing - both emotional and physical - and I suppose it is that sense of restoration that truly makes it a Christmas story. ...more
Loading...
