The Book of Marie

I love Terry Kay, he has to be my favorite southern writer! This book, like all of his books is wonderful! I would highly recommend it to anyone. I love how he develops characters and the story line. I feel that I know all of the people in the book, and consider them close friends! Great book to take on a vacation or to read at home at night in your easy chair! I have read all of Terry Kay's books! Write more please!

Written by Georgia Writers Hall of Fame author Terry Kay, The Book of Marie is a novel centered upon the fiftieth reunion of the Overton High School class of 1955. Protagonist Cole Bishop remained friends with high school classmate Marie Fitzpatrick well after graduation, yet has been struck by her surprisingly accurate predictions. Each of them witnessed America itself changing, sometimes violently; in 1962, a young black girl was killed at a civil rights demonstration, and the next day a Georgia home was burned. These and many more events reveal the at time painful tribulations a nation went through, as changes were made in the lives of whites and blacks alike. The Book About Marie is as much about individual bonds and knowing a place as home as it is about the turbulent spectrum of history, and evokes emotion, connection, heartbreak and hope. Highly recommended.

I have read all of Terry Kay's books and this is one of the best. To bad he is not known as much. His stories are about people you woud like to know. Frank Burton

This is by far the best book I have read in a long time! I was not able to put it down, finally finishing it at 3:30am. Wow what a great book. Terry Kay is an awesome writer.

Terry Kay has crafted a beautiful, realistic look at the people of his native state of Georgia and their reactions to the arrival of integration and the many changes it brought to their lives. The citizens of Overton, GA, a small rural community with a class C high school, are seen as teenagers in the 1950s, and again at their 50th high school reunion. Marie, an outsider from the North who joins the senior class in 1954, is an outspoken critic of all things Southern, and is shunned by her class members except for Cole, the popular football quarterback and very traditional Southern male. Despite their cultural differences, an unexplained attraction emerges. After their graduation and separation, their strange friendship is continued and revealed through the letters they exchange as the years pass. The arrival of the 50th Reunion vividly shows the changes that have occured in Overton because of integration and civil rights, and the direct effect it has had on the lives of the class of 1954. Through his many brilliantly developed characters Kay also addresses the issues of male aging, and the importance of place and friendship in creating a satisfactory life. The Book of Marie has captured a sometimes forgotten generation and its role in history.It is a stunning discovery.