Waking Up in Dixie

July 26, 2010
Smith shakes up the midlife marriage renewal subgenre with the emotionally complex tale of Elizabeth Whittington, who has accepted that her marriage to Howe Whittington, the wealthiest man in their small Georgia town, is a sham. Howe cheats, has grown hard over the years, and is less than present in their marriage, but after a stroke lands him in a coma, he wakes up, six months later, a changed man. Suddenly, he wants to work on repairing their marriage and helping others fix the problems in their lives. That, naturally, proves to be difficult, and Elizabeth, meanwhile, must decide if she can trust her husband while he tries to right some wrongs, and, in the process, reveals a trove of town secrets. That the story isn't a freewheeling comedy sets it apart from the pack; Elizabeth's struggles feel real (though Howe remains a little cartoonish), and the way Smith (The Red Hat Club) leaves Elizabeth to pursue or abandon her marriage on her own terms is a refreshing departure from convention.

August 1, 2010
Strange as it sounds, Elizabeths marriage to Howe Whittington takes a turn for the better when the philandering bully suffers a massive stroke in church one Sunday. After surgery to remove a benign brain tumor leaves the scion of the towns founding family in a coma, Elizabeth begins contemplating a new life, one that might include altering the platonic relationship she has been enjoying with an old high school flame. Then Howe wakes up a changed man: he cusses, he cries, and hes randy as all get-out. Chastened by his deathbed epiphany, Howe is determined to make amends for everything he has ever done wrongwhich will take some time, because he has alienated practically everybody in this small Georgia town. First on his list: get Elizabeth to fall in love with him again, followed by reining in their out-of-control teenage daughter, and putting his domineering mother in her place. A rousing paean to newly empowered middle-aged women everywhere, Smiths zesty read-in-one-sitting romp promises to delight loyal fans and garner new ones.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)