An Eighth of August

AT FIRST I HAD A LITTLE DIFFICUTY DECIPHERING WHO WAS WHO AND WHAT WAS WHAT. FINALLY GETTING INTO THE BOOK, HOWEVER, I FOUND THAT IT WAS WELL WORTH THE EFFORT. THE CHARACTERS ARE EVERYDAY PEOPLE,TRYING TO MAKE THE BEST OF THE HAND THAT LIFE HAS DEALT THEM. THIS IS THE VERY THING THAT MAKES THEM ALL SO ENDEARING--EVEN VIOLA'S DOGS THAT WON'T RUN AWAY BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE THEMSELVES TO BE TIED UP.VERY UNIQUE--VERY SWEET AND I'M GRATEFUL TO MS.TRICE FOR A NOVEL THAT I WON'T SOON FORGET.

An eighth of august is the story of a just everyday family in the 60's going through problems. The story is told through different members of the family. The story is centered around El, the young nephrew, death a year before. The family is again getting ready to attend the county festive where the tradgedy struck the year before. The story setting is before and after the death took place. I like reading books with the time frame of the 60's I throught the book was good, but kinda of confusing with the years.

Dawn Turner Trice is an excellent author. This is the first book that I read of hers. She has so many lessons in this story..so many old sayings that make you feel like the characters are a part of your family. I hope the lessons will linger on within me for years to come. If this festival that they speak of was near here, I would surely attend. This book makes true that in every family some rain, and some pain must fall as the author says, " Sometimes grief opens up a window. Sometimes grief open it wide enough for something wonderful to fly in". I'm glad Trice's messages flew into my space.

[...]By a quarter of the way into the book I was absolutely hooked and wanted to keep reading it as quickly as possible. It's a terrifically engaging book and I felt very rewarded for staying with it early on when it was a bit confusing.What I liked most about the book was how the story was told, ie., by several characters and not always chronoligically. This style unfolded the characters in very interesting ways. Just about every one of them grew in depth as the story worked toward a conclusion. I made judgments about people which weren't always accurate at the beginning and they grew before my eyes as the story moved on. Each character had much more depth than was revealed in the first half of the book and it reflects real life as we get to know people and they hold so much more depth than when we first meet them.Further, I enjoyed her style of writing "in dialect". I had the feeling of evesdropping in on conversations in a household I wouldn't ordinarily have access to (I'm white). If these people were talking to me in real life they'd probably speak more "proper". This aspect endeared them to me. I also happen to live in an African American neighborhood so I do get an opportunity a times to hear and appreciate the more natural style of speaking that goes on in the 'hood so her style seemed very realistic and "down home" to me.I highly recommend.

I loved it. Yes, it can be confusing, just concentrate, and it will be rewarding.