The Wisdom of Hair

February 1, 2013
A wistful coming-of-age tale in which a South Carolina mountain girl finds escape at beauty school. Zora Adams could get into college, but the idea of it is too big to fit into the life she's had. Life on the mountain with Mama has been no picnic; since Daddy died, Mama has imagined herself as a rural Judy Garland, donning the clothes and all the bad habits of her icon. After watching booze, rough men and grinding poverty destroy Mama, Zora is leaving. She has won a grant to the Davenport School of Beauty, in a town near the coast, a world away. Housing has been arranged for her--she's to live in an apartment above the garage of professor Winston Sawyer and cook his dinner in exchange for board. For Zora, it is love at first sight. A young widower, Winston has devoted himself to drunkenness. While her nights are spent watching Winston through the window, her days are surprisingly happy. Zora has a knack for hair (and unlike Mama or Winston, she can transform the people in her chair), and she finds a best friend in fellow student Sara Jane, a pretty girl whose wealthy family welcomes Zora into their life. Zora tries to put all her love in the dishes she delivers Winston, but he is insensible to all but the bottle. Sara Jane has better luck when she falls in love with Winston's yard boy, Jimmy, a Mexican immigrant whose existence will infuriate Sara Jane's father. The novel takes a surprising turn when Winston seduces Zora. She hopes for romance, but all he can manage is silence and sex. While Zora keeps hoping to redeem Winston, Sara Jane, with her father's hard-won approval, is to marry Jimmy in the biggest wedding of the year. When Zora becomes pregnant, and then her mother shows up begging her to return to the mountain, Zora has to make some grown-up decisions about who she wants to be. Well-drawn characters and depth lie beneath the beauty treatments in this affecting debut.

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March 1, 2013

In the tradition of Wendy Wax's Single in Suburbia and Ann Napolitano's Within Arm's Reach comes the Southern tale of Zora Adams, daughter of an alcoholic Judy Garland impersonator. When Zora reaches her 19th birthday, she leaves her codependent mother. Under the watchful eye of her favorite former English teacher, Zora enrolls in the Davenport School of Beauty, where she finds a kindred spirit in the beautiful stylist Sarah Jane. When she meets hard-drinking professor Winston Sawyer, she becomes infatuated. Can Zora save him, though she failed to save her own mother? VERDICT This debut deals with real-life issues such as codependency, alcoholism, and female friendship. However, the reader will desire stronger depth and more growth in the characters as the novel draws to a close. Zora's relationships seem shallow at best, and watching Zora repeat her own mistakes and those of her mother may alienate the reader. Those looking for a redemption tale involving hairstyling might prefer Kristen Billerbeck's Split Ends; readers searching for fun chick lit that also deals with serious issues should try Marian Keyes's novels.--Julia M. Reffner, Fairport, NY

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2013
On her nineteenth birthday, Zora Adams flees her South Carolina mountain home, leaving behind an alcoholic mother who dresses like a poor replica of Judy Garland and attracts less-than-desirable men. Six hours in the car later, under the care of her high-school teacher, Zora arrives in a coastal town and enrolls in the Davenport School of Beauty. Here, updos, finger waves, and permanents serve as a metaphor for changing one's life. Zora stays in an apartment adjacent to the home of handsome, grief-stricken widower Winston Sawyer, a man who uses bourbon as a painkiller; with a bit of Mama in her, after all, she falls in love with Winston, believing she can change him. Fortunately, best friend, Sara Jane Farquhar, and her parents, show Zora the power of forgiveness, friendship, and real love. Boykin is a new voice in southern women's fiction, and her strong, flawed female characters should appeal to fans of Dorothea Benton Frank and Karen White, and those who enjoy stories about the bond of sisterhood and friendship that overrides all things.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)