My Summer of Southern Discomfort

May 7, 2007
S
hort story writer Gayle makes her debut as a novelist with this chronicle of a young, liberal New York lawyer who starts over in the South. The daughter of a famous civil rights champion, Natalie Goldberg stuns her parents by moving to Bibb County, Ga., to work as a prosecutor. The job was initially Natalie's excuse to flee her position at a Manhattan law firm after having an affair with partner Henry Tate and finding herself the scapegoat for a mistake he made. Though Natalie has some trouble acclimating to her new environs, and she butts heads with co-counsel, good ol' boy Ben Maddox, she slowly warms to life in Bibb County while attempting to balance her anti–death penalty stance with her desire to win a capital case. Natalie's dilemmas are perfectly played, and Gayle's economical prose is peppered with sharp sentences (also a few duds: “I felt as if I had been born full woman, Athena from Zeus's brow, with heavy breasts and dark pubic hair as curly as that atop my head”) and clever fish-out-of-water observations. Don't be fooled by the ditzy jacket art.

Macon, Georgia, couldn't be more different from New York City if it were on Mars. Macon is where attorney Natalie Goldberg lands after a disastrous end to her tenure at a Manhattan law firm. Julie Dretzin excels in characterizing both Natalie and her new Southern colleagues in the district attorney's office. She doesn't succumb to stereotypical accents. And she gently highlights the changes that take place in Natalie, which include shedding her anti-death-penalty stance to prosecute a capital murder case. Dretzin's melodic reading ably portrays Natalie as she gets to know her co-prosecutor, navigates her new surroundings, and comes to terms with her unexpected new career path, all of which begin to make Macon feel like home. J.J.B. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Starred review from June 1, 2007
After a love affair sours and threatens her job with a large New York City law firm, young overachiever Natalie Goldberg impulsively takes a position in the district attorney's office in Macon, GA. An obvious outsider in almost every way, Natalie (Nat) spends her first months wrapped in the cocoon of her unhappiness. Then, contrary to her personal beliefs, she finds herself as the co-prosecuting attorney in a double homicide case. At the same time, Nat works to help a colleague's sister escape a domestic abuse situation. Nat begins to thrive in her new setting as she discovers the dual healing powers of time and gardening and realizes that happiness is possible without a rigid life plan. Despite some tough subject matter, Gayle has written a very appealing first novel with an engaging heroine and a cast of very believable secondary characters. Public libraries will want this for more than just summer reading.Rebecca Kelm, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights

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