Waking Up in Dixie

For a hilarious Southern novel, it's tough to improve on Haywood Smith, but Laural Merlington's narration puts the sweet in the sweet tea. When the carefully staged facades of small-town power brokers unexpectedly are stripped away, reality is hard to swallow, and time-honored patterns come into question. Although couple Elizabeth and Howe face serious medical and marital issues, Merlington's spot-on Georgia accents give them levity. She's especially winning in depicting Howe's tyrannical mother. From Howe's shocking lines to daughter Patricia's well-honed whines, Merlington portrays wide-ranging characters and emotions. Listeners will hear timeless truths about life's challenges that bring laughter and tears. J.J.B. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

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.