Waltzing at the Piggly Wiggly

In this warmhearted little Southern novel the Piggly Wiggly is threatened by a new mega-market. A group of women from the town, the "Nitwits," come up with a plan to increase Piggly Wiggly business by offering the town's ladies a few hours of dancing in the aisles with the local eligible bachelor while clerks do their shopping. The plan fails, but all is not lost--love wins in the end. Clarinda Ross tries to infuse the characters with their own brand of Southern charm, but they all end up sounding pretty much the same. And the cotton candy dialogue finally becomes so cloyingly sweet that it's enough to make your teeth ache. M.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

July 31, 2006
Dalby's darling debut is a light jaunt around the fairy tale-like town of Second Creek, Miss., where the weather is "God's messenger service," people waltz in the aisles of a grocery store and the Annual Delta Floozie Contest packs the town square. Laurie Lepanto puts together, with the help of the Bloody Mary-swilling Nitwitts (the civic association she belongs to, comprised of wealthy widows), "another mildly amusing Second Creek solution to life" to save the local Piggly Wiggly from closing after a MegaMart opens nearby. Laurie arranges a "Waltzing at the Piggly Wiggly" promotion that allows ladies to cut a rug with dashing local ballroom dancer Powell Hampton, while the store's bag boys shop for the ladies' groceries. As big-band music swings in the canned goods aisle, a romance between Laurie and Powell percolates. Second Creek is populated by the charming types one would expect: Mr. Choppy, owner of the Piggly Wiggly, is a sweet Southerner with a deep drawl and a mysterious missing finger; each of the Nitwitts are tart-sweet busybodies; and Mr. Floyce, the songwriting and joke-telling mayor, has a hidden past. Those who appreciate genteel charm should enjoy this fluffy confection.