The writing style is spot on if you've ever been buttonholed by an older woman of Southern extraction who wants to tell ya all about it. The first third read very quickly, as we are presented with her situation (newly widowed, discovers how wealthy her husband really was, is presented with her husband's "lovechild"--and why did she never use that term that was common in her youth?)But then Miz Julia simply became annoying because if she was that angry at being kept in the dark, kept on a short leash etc. surely she would have cut loose? At least to the point of getting central AC that summer, since we are told that it's almost a year since The Mister passed. The plot becomes ever more convoluted and unbelievable, in the style of 1960s romances and rom-coms, where one question and one answer would have cleared everything up. With a policeman in the house, who is blissfully unaware of all these people coming and going. Oh yeah, that's right--media policemen are always idiots. Sigh.There is very little character development here, because the authoress seems to want two-dimensional stereotypes to play with. Hazel Marie and Lillian are the only ones who seem to have any human warmth and intelligence. I expected the main character to learn to like the child she first refers to as "the little bastard" but that doesn't really happen. No wonder her husband treated her like a ten year old; she acts like one--a selfish one at that.I also took exception to the stereotype that every. single. Christian. in the book is a hypocrite, a gossip, a liar, and out for what they can get. Yes, there are plenty of tares among the wheat, but I smelled a burning, smouldering issue here. Will I read another volume? I doubt it. So many better books, so little time.
In #1 of this series, we meet Miss Julia Springer and the main characters of the forthcoming stories. She is a prim, proper, conservative, Southern Lady of North Carolina, a recent widow. We see her change in amusing ways when she learns that her late husband, a boring, miserly yet wealthy, punishing husband was a hypocrite, as he fathered a child with a long-time mistress, one Hazel Marie. This young woman brings her son, Wesley Lloyd Jr., to Julia and leaves him. Miss Julia is taken by complete surprise, but deals with it generously and admirably. There are other colorful characters, and an engaging plot to rescue Lloyd from a televangelist, but I really enjoyed the subplot of her proper pastor’s machinations to declare her unfit to care for herself and thus to leave her inheritance to the Church. His paternal, patronizing speech to her reminded me of a church I’ve left behind. How she internalizes all these developments shows her to be a much different person, stronger and bolder and less “conservative” than her small town ever knew. It is implied that she is over 60, but in subsequent books the guess would have to be between 55-65 or more. Because there are some rather unbelievable details (not calling police after Hazel Marie was hurt, as they know who the perps are, and the pastor managing to make Miss Julia believe she is a nymphomaniac) I can’t give it a higher rating. (For me, 5 is stellar, and only about 5% of the books I read can get it.)
Do You like book Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind (2000)?
I started this series after a friend recommendation and I was pleasantly surprised. Miss Julia is a captivating Southern woman whose stance on what is proper rarely wavers even when she is not following her own rules on society. She is witty, delightful and adept at solving her own problems although not without a bit of a mess to straighten out. In this first novel, Julia discovers that her deceased husband had a love child when Little Lloyd is dropped on her doorstep by her husband's mistress. While dealing with her feelings about the situation, she becomes attached to the little boy and their resulting adventure brought smiles to my face at each turn.
—Laurie
Julia has always done what the men in her life told her to do ("When Papa said 'Jump', I was always the first one in the air"). At least she had always done as told until her husband of 44 years died of a heart attack ("Right in our driveway. In his new Buick Park Avenue.") Then she found out that this man she had always honored and obeyed had a mistress and a son - a son who was dropped off on her doorstep because Julia's philandering husband had made no arrangement for the mistress ("Wesley Lloyd didn't leave me a red cent… not even the house I been livin' in some twelve years now"). And off goes the mistress to get some training, leaving her son with Julia. Then strange things begin happening, and Julia begins to speak her mind - and change her behavior!A very enjoyable read, and I already have the next in the series.
—BJ Rose
Enjoyable, light fiction, set in NC, I liked Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind. However I loved Miss Julia!When Miss Julia's husband dies unexpectedly, Miss Julia's sterile--on multiple levels--marriage ends and life as she never imagined begins. Having lived the stereotypically dependent, Southern church woman's life to this point in her 60s, Miss Julia is slowly transformed into a strong, sassy, Southern woman by dramatic and sometimes comical circumstances outside her control. And, throughout the book, she speaks her mind, offering wry, witty, piercing observations about human nature, life and hypocrisy. Miss Julia has a lot to say and every word is a bell ringer, even if you don't necessarily agree with her on every point...bless her heart. ;-)I was further delighted by Miss Julia's inner conflicts and ultimate transformation, as she struggled with the emotions raised by the undeniable proof of her husband's loveless nature, attempted exploitation by people purporting to care for her, and introduction of strangers into her family life. She was very real with herself and God as she processed it all, coming out in a much better place than when she started. In the midst of this, Miss Julia and her companions have a variety of hilarious and dangerous adventures, becoming friends and then "chosen" family. Characters are frequently revealed to be not in substance what their superficial exteriors indicate, which is fitting for a book that skewers Southern duplicity.I accepted this book as diverting, light fiction filled with sassy backtalk and self-discovery. I wasn't disappointed and look forward to reading the next book in this series.
—Lady Jane
