The School of Beauty and Charm

August 27, 2001
Sumner, author of the story collection Polite Society, has written a sure-footed first novel with no idea where to go: her voice is clear, yet the story she tells is anything but. At the outset, the focus is on the fractious, flamboyant Peppers clan of Counterpoint, Ga.: Louise, the narrator; her older brother, Roderick, a boy with severe asthma; her father, Henry, a punctilious, warm-hearted cardboard plant manager; and her mother, Florida, the high-strung, artistic, ambitious daughter of Kentucky hill folk, desperate to make her family respectable. Defiant and deeply troubled Louise has other plans, especially after Roderick's accidental death. But whereas Sumner's rendering of Louise's upbringing is filled with finely observed moments, Louise's downward spiral is loose and untidy. It is never made quite clear why Louise seduces a worker at her father's plant, applies to clown school, rejects religion, runs off to the circus or becomes an alcoholic—although Louise insists she's guilty of Roderick's death, the pacing of the novel is so erratic that her grief and growing-up both become hard to follow. The novel's many vivid and provocative characters aren't given much to do other than provide a colorful backdrop, and the book's often uproarious humor tries a bit too hard to entertain. The novel falters until the last bittersweet section, which finds Louise among a loony and lovable group of alcoholic carnies. While not without charm and some strong writing, Louise's story reads as if Sumner discovered the tale she should have written hiding in this novel's last hundred pages. (Sept. 28)Forecast:Sumner, winner of a Whiting Award, is a writer of great promise, but in this first novel she fails to harness her storytelling abilities. Still, a cheeky cover and an author tour should attract some readers, particularly in the South.

September 15, 2001
Frances Louise Peppers of 711 Mount Zion Road, Counterpoint, GA, had potential. She knew it, as did her well-meaning parents. This story reveals the undermining of that potential through guilt, pride, desire, and self-destruction. Louise begins her tale from the Wapanog County Jail, where she has landed after having joined a low-rent, run-down traveling circus that led to her eventual drunk-driving arrest on the heels of her failed marriage to the Human Dragon, Zane Wilder. If that alone is not enough to spur you to read Sumner's tragically funny debut novel, then perhaps you should turn instead to any of the thousands of other turning-of-age stories being cranked out today. However, with the publisher's track record and the praise for Sumner's first book, Polite Society, this one is a best bet for fall leisure reading. Sumner brings a twist to this noteworthy fiction debut that is both disturbing and comic. Recommended for all public libraries but especially those with a strong Southern fiction collection. Shannon Haddock, Bellsouth Corporate Lib. & Business Research Ctr., Birmingham, AL

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2001
Louise Peppers is a prime candidate for a nervous breakdown. The trouble is that she is still in her teens. Her family used to merely border on the dysfunctional, but that changes with the sudden death of her brother. In addition to her grief, Louise is convinced that she was the cause--however indirectly--of his death. When she begins a self-driven ride on the wild side, she becomes unglued enough that her parents try to put her in a boarding school. But she runs away--to the circus--or something resembling a circus. Actually, she finds other lost souls like herself but who are, besides troubled, just plain weird. When, how, or if she will get her life back on track is a story that is both funny and dramatic. Louise has a sharp wit, and she doesn't lose her sense of humor about her situation, even as it worsens.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)