Literature Help: Cold Sassy Tree

By Students' Academy

The book is inspired by the colorful history of the author's father and his family. It very successfully evokes Georgia at the beginning of the 20th century. “Cold Sassy Tree” is not a biographical account of the author’s own family.

Will Tweedy, the central character and the protagonist of the novel, shares many things with the author’s father, William Arnold Burns.

The author’s father was the grandson of the owner of the general store in Commerce, Georgia, and likewise Will Tweedy, the protagonist, is the grandson of the owner of the general store in Cold Sassy, Georgia.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Sep 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310948503

Students' Academy

Easy study guides for the students of English literature.

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Literature Help: Cold Sassy Tree

Students' Academy

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Literature Help: Cold Sassy Tree

Students’ Academy

Copyright@2014 Students’ Academy

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Chapter One: Introduction

Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns was first published in 1984. It is a highly successful historical novel.

The story is set in Georgia, in the United State. There is a fictional town of Cold Sassy. This fictional town is said to be based on the city of Harmony Grove now called Commerce in the year 1906.

The story revolves around the life of Will Tweedy, a fourteen years old boy.

Death, religion, social taboos, etc. are some of the most prominent themes which the story explores.

The book is inspired by the colorful history of her father and his family. It very successfully evokes Georgia at the beginning of the 20th century. Cold Sassy Tree is not a biographical account of the author’s own family.

Will Tweedy, the central character and the protagonist of the novel, shares many things with the author’s father, William Arnold Burns.

The author’s father was the grandson of the owner of the general store in Commerce, Georgia, and likewise Will Tweedy, the protagonist, is the grandson of the owner of the general store in Cold Sassy, Georgia.

The author has very successfully modeled the fictional town Cold Sassy on her hometown, Commerce. The details and the descriptions of the places are highly significant in the novel.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

It is 5th of July, 1906. Enoch Rucker Blakeslee is the owner of a store. Miss Love Simpson is a milliner at his store. She is much younger than Enoch Rucker Blakeslee. He announces that he wants to marry Miss Love Simpson.

It transpires that his wife had died only three weeks before, so obviously the family members are shocked to hear that announcement.

Mary Willis and Loma are Rucker’s daughters. They think that there will be a lot of gossip about their father’s impropriety in Cold Sassy, the town where they live.

Will Tweedy, the central character and the narrator of the novel, is the grandson of Rucker. He is only fourteen years old. He is in favor of his grandfather and wants that he should remarry.

Although Miss Love is from Baltimore and she is a Yankee, but Tweedy thinks that she is a nice and pretty woman. He knows that now Mattie Lou, Rucker’s wife, is gone, so he needs someone to look after him.

That afternoon, Rucker announces that he is engaged. Will Tweedy secretly leaves the house and goes fishing in the country. He is supposed to stay at home and remain in mourning for his grandmother, but he leaves.

On the way he has to walk across a very narrow and high train trestle. He is nearly killed when a speeding train comes towards him. To save himself, he lies flat between the tracks. The train passes just overhead and he is not even touched.

This near death experience makes him a sensation. The people of the town come to his house to ask about that incident.

Suddenly, Rucker enters with his new bride, Miss Love. Everyone is shocked in the house.