Nora, Nora

This Is A Great Book, From The Beginning To The End.

Anne River Siddons paints a wonderful portrait of a young girl growing up and coming of age into adulthood in a small town in Georgia during a time of innocence. After her eccentric cousin Nora comes to visit Peyton McKenzie, her life is turned topsy turvy and so are the lives of several other residents of the town. Peyton is on the verge of becoming a teenager, she never met anyone like Nora, who is independent and does not hesitate to challenge conventional thinking and the local establishment. Peyton harbors guilt for having killed her mother during childbirth, her mom died after she was born. Peyton belongs to an exclusive club, "The Loser's Club" ,where she and a few select friends share their 'secrets'. Peyton was raised by a single parent her father, who loves her but is somewhat remote. He has a housekeeper who also served as Peyton's nanny. Her highly particular Aunt Augusta (father's sister) took a benign interest in trying to feminize Peyton who resists these changes .... Peyton learns Nora is her mother's cousin's daughter and that a dispute between between the cousins, her mother and Nora's mother, occured sometime when Lila Lee (Peyton's mom) married her dad. Ms Siddons weaves numerous anecdotal events from the lives of her characters throughout the story ... many are amusing and charming which makes reading the book a delightful experience. Some mysterous events from the past eventually are revealed which shed light on the relationship between Peyton's and Nora's mother. Nora has some secrets of her own ... she lived a highly unusual independent life in her young adulthood. She is ahead of her time, the 1960s, in terms of civil rights, free thinking, and expresssion of personal freedom ... which she exerts. Her expressions of independence eventually land Nora into problems ... first with higher ups in the small town ... next with a past resident who made it to Hollywood and the big screen ... and eventually with Peyton's father who feels Nora is having a bad influence over Peyton. The development of plot and characters is outstanding in this novel. The story is woven with finely honed skill. It unwinds to reveal how past secrets which were so safely guarded affect people's lives even today... Peyton learns how the lives of those loves are very complicated when the emotions and the heart are opened up. This is a highly recommended book. Erika Borsos (erikab93)

I listened to this book on audio and loved every minute of it. I have read a couple of Siddon's novels before this, and this was definitely my favorite. The story centers around Peyton, a 12 year old girl being raised by her father after her mother died shortly after giving birth to her. All her life, Peyton had believed that she had killed her mother and that's why her father wasn't very loving towards her. I felt so sorry for Peyton when her Aunt Augusta took her to Atlanta to get her hair fixed and new clothes. She came out of the beauty shop with a huge perm and clothes she hated and went home and cried. Fortunately, along comes cousin Nora who manages to create a cute hairdo out of the perm and begins to bring Peyton out of her shell. The people in the town either love Nora or hate her, and her views on racism cause alot of commotion, but I couldn't help but love her character. Of course, I rooted for Nora and Peyton's dad to fall in love and have a happy ending, but the author throws in a few twists and the story doesn't always go the way I'd hoped, but I enjoyed the whole book and will recommend it to all my friends. I can't wait until the next Anne Rivers Siddons novel.

Peyton McKenzie believes she killed her mother....and that belief colors all she does in the small southern town that is her home. The adults in her life look upon her with a mix of bemusement and worry, but let her run. Her closest friends are the two fellow mwmbers of the Losers' Club, and they aren't going to encourage her to change. Out of the blue, Nora arrives. Nora is Peyton's older cousin, a child of the sixties and the south. Nora enthralls Petyon, and begins to raise havoc in town. She is breath of fresh air and life....and is the guiding hand as Peyton takes her first steps into young womanhood. There have been conplaints that the book is superficial, I found it to be engrossing. Following familiar themes from ARS other books, the class struggles in the small town, race, loss and breaking away from conformitity. I liked this so much because it delt with flawed humans, no simple black and white. In the end it is a story about "having been born with a constant heart" and learning to accept those who love us.

Maybe I went into this with lower expectations than usual after reading some of the reviews posted here. I have read everything ARS has written, and am always anxious and eager to start (and finish) her newest additions...this was no exception.I just loved (and pitied) Peyton's character...so unsure of herself and lost in the everyday world until a wiser, more wordly woman comes along...Nora. Again, a character you just have to fall in love with for her spunk and fiesty beliefs. You just adore the fact that she can put Aunt Augusta in her place, and as they say, "catch flies with honey."As always, Siddons captures the essence of the timeframe with the political goings-on and blends the story into its surroundings. The entire book unravelled with no sure outcome, and my emotions that poured forth during the speech were uncontrollable.I still rank Outer Banks as my favorite, with Downtown, Colony and King's Oak not far behind. Anne writes a fabulous story with beautiful prose and wonderful continuity...I look forward to her new novels and though I wish she could crank them out faster, they are always worth the wait.

In 1961 Lytton, Georgia seventh grader Peyton McKenzie lives with her widower father Frazier. At night Peyton watches old home movies of her family by herself. The filming stopped when her mother died so she never appears in any of them.Peyton's second cousin, free spirited Nora Findlay, arrives and shakes up the household and the townsfolk with her ideas on racial equality and her open lifestyle. Nora begins to teach an English class of mixed races while tutoring. However, Nora has secrets of her own and though she loves her two relatives, has never been able to stay in one place very long. When will she find the pressure of Peyton and Frazier to be too much?NORA, NORA is an excellent character-driven historical fiction novel that centers on life in a small Georgia town at the beginning of the civil rights movement. The story line is interesting, but lacks action. Instead the interrelationship between the characters and the motives that drive their actions make for an entertaining novel that readers will enjoy. Nora is warm and humorous as she stirs up the townsfolk to either back her antics or loathe her for representing the end of a lifestyle. Peyton is a great cast member who believes that she murdered her mother in childbirth. Frazier regains his lust for life. The secondary players add depth to the atmosphere as well as a better understanding of the three lead charcaters. Anne Rivers Siddons brings a bygone era alive with her wonderful period piece.Harriet Klausner