The Way It Used to Was: Memories of a Cape Cod Childhood 1924-1942

By Xlibris US

Barbara Chase Palson spent her childhood summers in West Harwich, Cape Cod, Massachusetts in an 18th century half-house that had been in her fathers family for nearly 200 years. In this collection of memories, she invites the reader to return to the Cape of her childhood, when working farms and scrub woods dominated the landscape, when the daily mail delivery was a social occasion, when it was still possible to live off the land and sea. Through her series of vignettes filled with small-town charm she introduces the reader to a Cape Cod before developers and tourists, the way it used to was.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 5, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499049558

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Barbara Chase Palson.

ISBN:          Softcover          978-1-4990-4956-5

                   eBook              978-1-4990-4955-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 07/10/2014

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

536961

CONTENTS

Summer Exodus

Half A House

The Yard

The House : From Attic To Cellar

VISITATIONS

Hattie And ‘Lige

Great Aunt Ann

Unca Will

Artie Blue And The Glads

Fi-Oo-Gee-Ack-Oos

Cousin David And Spiritualism

OUR CAPE LIFE

Bessie’s Store

Mail! And The Bike

Dennisport And Rain

Snapper Blues And The Bridge

Spruce Gum And Checkaberries

Grey Neck Beach

Drag The River?

Auctions

The Talking Crow And The Lost House

Jobs

Summer’s End

SUMMER EXODUS

When I was a little girl living in Needham, Massachusetts the first inkling that summer vacation was near was the sudden arrival in the living room of the huge steamer trunk. It had wooden slats screwed tightly to the top and bottom, with heavy, thick leather handles on either side. There was a large metal lock with tongue and hook through which an impressive padlock was latched. I never knew who possessed the key that released its hold: probably Mother. The massive trunk sat in the living room for a few days while we packed it with sheets, towels and clothes for Mother, Father, brother Walt and me – and who knows what else!

But the reality of the summer exodus came with the arrival of a truck and driver from the American Railway Express. I was awed by the departure of the trunk, hefted by a single driver down the front stairs and onto the back of the truck. This signaled the start of our own departure, which was an adventure in itself.

Not owning a car, we all walked for 8-10 minutes from our house on Bird’s Hill to the train station carrying suitcases, which grew heavier as we walked. The Bird’s Hill train station (now Hersey) was located at the bottom of the hill in a gorge well below street level, and was reached by three levels of wide wooden stairs. The tracks from Needham led into South Station in Boston.

From our house on the south side of Bird’s Hill, across from a large tract of the Needham Golf Club, through which the train tracks ran, we could always hear the start-up of the wonderful, huge, black, scary steam engines… CHUFF! CHUFF! CHUFF-CHUFF-CHUFFFFF CHUFF PSHTTTTTTT! I never knew how many engines were starting up at Needham Junction, but from the repeating sounds, certainly more than one.

At last the tracks came alive with sound as our train approached and slowed for our station stop. I loved the huge wheels with the long iron bar

Reviews for The Way It Used to Was

[whitreidtan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Some people seem to make poor choice after poor choice in life, whether because they don't know any better or because they didn't have better role models. But poor life choices don't have to define a person forever. Breaking the pattern, breaking away, can be incredibly difficult but it is possible. There is always hope. Joshilyn Jackson's novel Backseat Saints is full of both poor decisions and hope for the future.

Ro Grandee, nee Rose Mae Lolley, was a side character in Jackson's debut novel gods in Alabama (lower case g intentional) but here she takes center stage. She grew up in Alabama, abandoned by her mother when she was just eight, and left directly in the line of fire of her alcoholic father's fists. So it's no surprise when she high tails it out of town as soon as possible. But leaving doesn't break the cycle of violence in her life as she meets and marries Thom Grandee, the son of the first family in his small Texas town. Rose Mae becomes Ro, a quiet, compliant, perfect wife whose hair and makeup are always impeccable and whose long sleeves hide the near constant bruises on her arms. Ro Grandee is not the quick, fearless spitfire that Rose Mae Lolley was although she needs to find that irrepressible girl inside herself again to find the courage to leave Thom, especially after a tarot reading stranger at the airport tells her that she will have to kill her husband or be killed, a truth she recognizes even as she still loves her abuser. And if she does leave, can she escape Thom as long as they're both still alive?

This is a companion novel to gods in Alabama although no knowledge of the first novel is needed to enjoy this one. There is a surprising amount of humor here, even in the face of such heavy topics as abandonment, domestic abuse, and alcoholism. Many of the characters, and especially Rose Mae, are emotionally damaged by their pasts. She must reckon with that past though, perhaps find her mother and confront her father, in order to understand and change the present, to escape her own certain death at Thom's hands. Jackson is adept at drawing small Southern towns and the people who inhabit them, understanding where each person fits in the hierarchy of place and the complications inherent in all of that. The novel is funny, heartbreaking, suspenseful, and twisty. Those who are looking for a good look into the psychology of an abused wife, the bravery it takes to run to a new life, and the promise of hope will find this a satisfying read.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was the perfect summer read. A tough female protagonist with a secret past, a bit of romance, and that Southern touch that Joshilyn Jackson is so well known for. Very fun!

[mamashepp · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'd give this a 3.5. For the most part well-written but I did question some of the plot lines. I did enjoy Jackson's exploration of identity.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

From the amazon.com description: Rose Mae Lolley's mother disappeared when she was eight, leaving Rose with a heap of old novels and a taste for dangerous men. Now, as demure Mrs. Ro Grandee, she's living the very life her mother abandoned. She's all but forgotten the girl she used to be-teenaged spitfire, Alabama heartbreaker, and a crack shot with a pistol-until an airport gypsy warns Rose it's time to find her way back to that brave, tough girl . . . or else. Armed with only her wit, her Pawpy's ancient .45, and her dog Fat Gretel, Rose Mae hightails it out of Texas, running from a man who will never let her go, on a mission to find the mother who did.

My Reactions
Jackson writes good, contemporary stories about Southern women in unusual circumstances. I’ve enjoyed other books by her and fully expected to enjoy this one as well. But there’s something about Rose Mae Lolley that is just a little off. Yes, I understand that she is a product of child abuse and spousal abuse. I know that living in that kind of situation can seriously damage a person’s psyche. Rose Mae is no exception. But the result, in this novel, is that I had a hard time connecting with her, sympathizing with her, cheering for her, or even much caring about her.

Still, there were many things in the book to like. The pace moved quickly and I was sufficiently interested to keep turning pages. As frustrated as I was with Ro’s decisions and half-baked schemes, I was even more puzzled by Claire/Mirabelle’s motivations. I did want to keep reading to find out how their story would end, but as often happens in real life, there is no satisfying ending. Nevertheless, although I feel both women are too damaged to ever be “normal,” I liked how Rose Mae was able to find some closure and begin to come to terms with the “crazy” that is her life.

Final verdict – this is not Jackson’s best work, though it shines a light on a subject that needs attention.

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rose Mae is a minor character in Jackson’s Gods in Alabama. This novel tells her story. After a childhood filled with abuse, she finds herself trapped in an abusive marriage. She decides it’s time to take action after a gypsy reads her fortune in an airport. Rose Mae’s situation is a familiar one for many women. It’s also terrifying to think about being trapped in a life like that.

BOTTOM LINE: I didn’t enjoy this one as much as Gods in Alabama. It was a quick read, but the characters didn’t ring true for me in the same way. It felt more like a Lifetime movie.

[bookczuk · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Joshilyn Jackson took a minor character from another book, and turned her into the main character of this one. At the root of the story is much darkness, but it is told with a deft hand, humor, and a genuine grasp of the human psyche.

[judithdcollins · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another winner by Joshilyn Jackson – full of southern wit and some strong bad-ass women! I listened to the audio version (highly recommend as she is quite the storyteller) and she does it so well! Gripping, full of suspense and quirky characters, and as usual the author knows how to entertain southern style!

This book covers so much, from abuse (father and husband) the author tells the story from a first person point of view and the main character (Ro) has two different personalities (Roe Grandee) –the lovely submissive housewife, which can be as sweet as honey no matter how much she is a punching bag and (Rose Mae Lolley) - grew up when her mother left her with her father which began abusing her. Later she became (Ivy) to hide from her abuser. As usual, at the hand of abuse – she stays as there are good times thinking he would change until the bad next time comes around once again.

After many trips to the hospital, she finds a friendship with her next door neighbor (loved her), and when she takes her to the airport, she meets a tarot card reader (who happens to be her mom). She tells her she must kill her husband before he kills her.

She plans a few different ways to make this happen (trying to shoot him herself), develop a new identity and leave town, and trying to track down an old boyfriend to do it for her.

Full of emotionally damaged characters: Rose, her mother, her father, her husband, all who are dealing with the consequences of a life of bad choices. A page- turner from the first page to the last, full of humor, sass, and southern mischief!

[mardel_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

backseat saints is the story of a young woman, raised in a dysfunctional family, with a mother who ran away seemingly abandoning her, who ends up in an abusive relationship.

backseat saints is the story of the roll this young woman plays in her abusive marriage and how she finally accepts the fact that if she stays, she's going to end up dead.

backseat saints is the story of how she finally changes her life and how family cares for each other, even though it might not be in the best way. It's about forgiveness and hate.

It's a very hard hitting book. Very striking. I recommend it, it's very good reading, even though some parts may by hard to read.

[snat_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

To the outside world, Ro Grandee seems to have a good life: she's a beautiful woman married to a good looking and attentive husband from a well-respected family in Amarillo, Texas. However, after an airport gypsy tells Ro that she must kill her husband, we learn that Ro's picture perfect life is a facade that hides a marriage full of fear, violence, and abuse. Now, armed with only her pawpy's old gun, Ro plans her husband's murder, but will she be able to pull the trigger?

Backseat Saints begins with a bang and, unfortunately, ends with a whimper.

There's a lot to like here and, for the most part, I enjoyed the book. Joshilyn Jackson writes with wit and honesty about the South and its people (her dialogue is some of the best I've read), and to balance the darkness of spousal abuse with the humor of daily life is quite a feat.

What I appreciate the most about the book is that Ro never becomes a blank cipher for spousal abuse; many books of this nature focus on the violence and the abused remains a flat character with no real dimensions beyond the relationship to the abuse. Told from the first person point of view, Ro reveals the two halves of her personality. There's Ro Grandee, the lovely, submissive housewife, and then there's Rose Mae Lolley, the small town girl from Alabama who came to believe that love should be tempered by pain when her mother leaves and her father begins physically taking his anger out on Rose. Ro maintains her own personality (although secreted away in interior monologue that is Rose Mae Lolley's voice) despite being dominated by her husband, Thom. Her fear and her attraction to Thom become palpable and we see her foolishly clinging to hope in the good periods when he resolves to control his temper, and we see her anguish when he falls into familiar patterns. Like a meteorologist, Ro can predict the storm of his anger building but lacks the power to take shelter. While it's easy for those of us who have never been in an abusive relationship to become frustrated with her for her seeming refusal to leave him, Jackson does a good job of demonstrating how running is a luxury afforded to those with power. And Ro has been stripped of all power--financial, social, personal--by Thom, who has created a life that cages Ro in dependence upon him.

The novel, however, is problematic in two ways. The first is Ro's Catholicism, which seems surface at best and only to exist so that the novel could be given the title of Backseat Saints. The "saints" of the title are seldom brought into the narrative and never serve to move the plot forward. Entire chapters will pass and then a definite sense of "oops, haven't mentioned a saint in a while" crops up, a saint's name is dropped, and the narrative moves on--conspicuously saint-less.

The second issue is Ro's insistence on finding her ex-boyfriend from high school in the hopes that she can convince him to kill Thom. This plot line exists so Backseat Saints can dovetail with Jackson's novel, gods in Alabama (my personal favorite), which opens with Ro as a minor character appearing on the doorstep of Arlene Fleet's apartment in Chicago, demanding to know where her high school boyfriend is. The rest of gods is about Arlene making peace with a past she left behind in Alabama and Ro pretty much disappears as a character. I get that it was that particular character that inspired Jackson to write Saints, but instead of this segue feeling organic, it's been shoehorned in and makes for a strange, disjointed narrative. It also seems implausible that Ro would take such a risk, knowing the reaction her husband will have upon finding out she's been to Chicago without him. To have made Ro a character independent of gods would have tightened the narrative and cut some of the wasted length other reviewers have noted.

Despite these flaws, Backseat Saints has some lovely writing and I enjoyed the time spent with such complicated, flawed characters.

Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder

[emscape · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rose Mae Lolley, AKA Ro Grandee and others, is told by a gypsy woman at the airport that she'd better kill her husband before he kills her. The gypsy's not just pulling stuff out of the air. Thom Grandee has put Ro in the hospital on multiple occasions with his savage beatings and one of these days he just might succeed in killing her. Ro tries to off him, but fails, and so tries to run. At first looking for her high school boyfriend Jim Beverly, and then seeking out her mother who left her abusive father, Rose is actually on a journey of self-discovery. Suspenseful and heartbreaking throughout, the reader is given a glimpse into the mind of the kind of woman who stays.

[bami210 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Wasn't quite as good as the first of hers I read (Between, Georgia), but still pretty good.

[bookwormteri · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rose Mae, or Ro, was abandoned by her mother as a child, and left with an abusive, alcoholic father. As an adult, she has just fallen for men of the same type. Upon meeting a gypsy in the airport, she is told to kill her husband or else meet her own death.

Ro tackles her issues and faces her demons. I liked the book, it's hard to judge though. I loved gods in Alabama so much, and that it what I compare all her books to.

I will say that the character of Mirabelle just aggravated the crap out of me. What a cold woman. I just wanted to slap her.

[winstondog-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I was rooting for Thom to kill her. I wanted to kill her. The only multideminational character in the book was the dog'Fat Greta'

[askum_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a pretty interesting book to read and it kept my attention the whole time. I found this is one of the better books to read about domestic abuse with a pretty good ending. I'll be passing this one on to a friend to read for sure.

[burnit99 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've read several novels now that feature abused housewives, and there is a pretty common pattern in which we see how the couple met and married, how the abuse started and escalated, and how the wife finally steels herself to leave the marriage (usually going into hiding), and then a violent conclusion when the husband eventually tracks her down after she's made a new life for herself.

That's pretty much the pattern here, but this is the best of the ones I've read. Joshilyn Jackson is a Southern writer with a marvelously agile way with words whom I have followed ever since reading and loving "Between, Georgia". Few writers can show you beneath the skin of her characters like she can, and have you re-reading passages just to re-savor the Southern flavor of the words

I'd have wished for a little different ending; Ro Grandee is too strong a character to have all initiative stolen from her at the climax in this manner. But one lesson from the book is that there are breaks in life, good and bad, and what matters is how you deal with them when you wake up the next day.

[bale_5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rating: 3 ½ stars

Backseat Saints is read by the author, Joshilyn Jackson. She has the perfect voice and intonation for her narrator-protagonist, Rose Mae Lolley. She makes her come alive in a fun and quirky manner. Ironically, this is a light read despite its subject matter – parental and spousal abuse. It is a story that is as old as man, but is written with a fresh point of view. The audio version adds an element of eccentricity that complements this novel.

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wasn't expecting much from this book, but I wanted something diverting and not too demanding to read and Joshilyn Jackson's book looked like it'd fit that description. What I found was indeed diverting -- I couldn't put it down. Set in Amarillo, Texas, Ro is the faithful wife of a man she loves and who loves her. He also, periodically, beats the crap out of her and it becomes obvious to her (long after it's been obvious to ER staff and a neighbor) that if she doesn't leave, he will eventually kill her. He's told her many times, however, that that's not going to happen. She is not going to be able to walk away from her marriage. So Ro determines that it's him or her and she decides to shoot him, which is a lot easier to think about when endlessly judging his moods than to actually do.

Ro is a great character. She's made a habit of choosing the wrong men, always ending up with men like her father, who can't help taking a swipe at her, and she's not good at being alone, but she's clear-headed about her future prospects if she stays with her husband. She's a little less clear-headed about how to get herself out safely and sometimes her plans are based more on wishful thinking than on reality, but she's determined to try. Her husband isn't a monster, and their attraction for each other is evident, but he does have both a temper and the belief that she belongs to him. I liked what Jackson did with this relationship; I've read books where I couldn't figure out why on earth the woman was ever within ten feet of the embodiment of evil she married and I think the relationship here is a more realistic portrayal of an abusive relationship, with hopeful times and good times present as well.

Jackson writes with a light touch that leavens the subject matter somewhat. Ro's voice at the beginning of the book is a little too hillbilly, but that settles down after a while. The plot moves along and while you can feel Ro's loneliness and fear, you can also feel her determination to survive and make a life for herself. Also, Ro's dog, fat Gretel, decribed as "dim and lovely", is a character in her own right and reminds me more than a little of my funny girl, currently twitching with doggy dreams at the foot of the bed.

[lallybroch_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you enjoy audio books, definitely listen to this one. It is narrated by the author, and like always, she is fabulous. If you've never tried an audio, I would recommend this one as a great place to start.

Even though the subject matter in the book is serious there are funny moments. Jackson's characters are always so well developed. Highly recommended

[ceh0017 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book was better than Between, Ga in my opinion, but I liked all the rest of Joshilyn Jackson's books better than this one. The first chapter of the book had me hooked, but after that it was really hard to get into. I almost didn't finish it because it was so slow at times.

[mikefinn_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I bought this book because the opening line hooked me: “It was an airport gypsy who told me that I had to kill my husband. She may have been the firt to say the words out loud, but she was only giving voice to a thing that I’d been trying not to know for a long, long timel.”

The first paragraph displayed a fresh, direct, authentic voice combined with compelling story telling craft and a willingness to tackle the most difficult emotions – the ones that bring us shame but also show is that we are alive, the ones that make us most ourselves, even if it’s a self we don’t like so much.

The rest of the book didn’t disappoint, it exceeded my expectations.

This isn’t just a sassy firecracker of a woman dealing with her abusive husband with witty lines and a smile on her face. This book crawls inside an abusive relationship and makes you live there. It makes you understand why she lives there and how she fuels the flames that burn her. This is physical and real and refuses to bow its head to politically correct clichés.

This book deals with broken people who cannot be fixed but may, perhaps be saved, even if they cannot save themselves.

It is about love and how that can get twisted up with hate and betrayal and loss and guilt.

It is a thriller that will keep you turning the pages and needing to know what happens next.

In this book, nothing is what it first seems but this is not the sleight of hand of the locked-room-murder mystery, this is about a slowly deepening perception of who these people are, what they mean to each other and what that does to them.

The thing I enjoyed most about the book is the sheer skill of the writing. Joshilyn Jackson slips back and forth along time lines and changes of perspective and variations of mood effortlessly. Her dialogue is perfect, her language is precise and unaffected. She is, literally, a joy to read.

This was the first novel of hers that I’ve read, but I now have “The Gods of Alabama” on order.

[missmermaid118 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Listening to BACKSEAT SAINTS was the most perfect audiobook experience. Beautifully read by the author, employing a variety of spot-on accents, the story of Rose Mae Lolley fighting for her survival is riveting. I tried to restrict my listening to my daily commutes, but it was impossible. First, Rose Mae spoiled me for any print book I tried to read. I abandoned book after book because her voice was so strong, so insistent, that she overshadowed any other characters I attempted to befriend. Then I found myself unwilling to leave my car on arrival at either work or home. I just wanted to keep on listening as Rose Mae mined her own past in an attempt to carve out a new present and hopefully, a future. Finally, I just gave up on everything else and listened to the story every chance I could get, bringing discs inside to listen to in the evenings as I lay in bed in the dark and back out to the car for the ride into work in the morning. Lunch breaks were spent eating sandwiches in my passenger seat, listening as Joshilyn Jackson brought Rose Mae to life -- as precarious as that life may be.

As the story opens, Rose Mae, deep into her alter ego of Mrs. Ro Grandee, wife of the oldest son of a prominent Amarillo family, is contemplating the murder of her husband, Thom. She's convinced that after 5 years of an abusive marriage, it has come down to either him or her. The narrative meanders back and forth between Rose Mae's childhood, marred by the abandonment of her mother and the abuse of her father, and the years of her marriage, building the tension brick by brick and filling in the gaps with a mortar of enlightening anecdotes. Without ever justifying Thom's abusive behavior, or even Rose Mae's many bad choices, the author illuminates the complexity of violent domestic relationships and how its effects ripple out through generations. Rose Mae begins to question her own complicity as she struggles to understand and exorcise what she considers a bad seed deep within her. It's an absolutely fascinating account of an abused woman grappling with self-awareness and empowerment.

In Jackson's earlier novel, GODS IN ALABAMA, Rose Mae Lolley was a minor character. There is some crossover of other characters as well. I hadn't read GODS. . ., and I'm actually glad that I hadn't. I didn't have any preconceived opinions about characters who appear in both novels, and that heightened the experience for me -- I didn't know what to expect; I didn't know if Rose Mae's descriptions of them were accurate or if they were distorted by her romanticism or rage. I do have a copy of GODS. . . on order, and I can't wait to hear it, though I find it hard to believe it will have as powerful an impact as BACKSEAT SAINTS.

If you're not a fan of audiobooks, you might want to make an exception for BACKSEAT SAINTS. First of all, Jackson does a stunning job with a variety of accents and personalities -- she is a trained actor. She gives Rose Mae a charming and endearing voice which often belies the horror of the scenes she is describing. It can be difficult to listen to the descriptions of a woman being beaten, and I often found myself gnawing on my own knuckles. Frankly, I don't know if I would have been able to read some of the scenes -- it would have been too easy to just skip over them. However, by listening to this story rather than reading it, I was able to hear what I otherwise may have chosen not to see.

I strongly recommend BACKSEAT SAINTS. It's breathtaking and flawless.

[smileydq · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I came into this book with high hopes - I've loved Jackson's previous novels and was looking forward to another gripping story. I was not disappointed. From the start, the plot grabs you, while Jackson's voice sparkles with wit even in the face of some serious subjects.

Rose Mae, a good Southern Catholic girl, is the main character, though her alter-egos Mrs. Ro Grandee and Ivy Rose Wheeler play equally into the movement of the plot. Rose Mae was abandoned by her mother and left to her abusive, alcoholic father. Ro is Thom Grandee's beautiful, perfect punching bag of a wife. Ivy Rose has reached the end of her tether, and is running both from her husband and from her past. Rose, like most people, lives as a complex mix of all three and constantly seeks some order in her mind and in her life.

I think Jackson has a gift for developing characters in such a way that draws the reader in, post-reading, makes the characters difficult to shake. Often stories of abuse can seem a little tired or predictable - Jackson took a difficult topic and gave it such an appealing, human voice that I was audibly rooting for her as I read. I highly recommend this book, 4 stars!

[jenners26 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Brief Description: Ro Grandee is the sweet-looking, dutiful wife of Tom Grandee, living in Amarillo, Texas in a tiny house the color of toothpaste. If you met her, you might think it odd that Ro wears long sleeves in summer. But how else can a wife hide the bruises that her husband’s been giving her? So when Ro is told by a gypsy that she must choose between her life or Tom’s life, her long-buried “true” self (Rose Mae Lolley) surfaces and attempts to shoot Tom dead. But things don’t quite go as planned, and Rose Mae realizes she needs to find another way out.

My Thoughts: This is a book that I think I liked more because I listened to it on audio. Much of the appeal for me was listening to Joshilyn Jackson’s narration. She has this cute Southern voice that just made the book come alive for me. The way she phrased things and her inflections at particular times was very entertaining, and certain details (like the toothpaste color of the house) stuck with me in a way I don’t think they would have had I physically read the book. However, upon assessing the book with a little bit of distance, I do think it is a bit unbelievable in terms of the plot. I’m willing to overlook that, though, because I enjoyed the narration so much. I do plan on listening to Gods Of Alabama, the precursor to this book, as it apparently answers the question of what happened to Jim Beverly.

[tututhefirst_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Joshilynn Jackson writes so realistically that the reader is instantly in the story. Rose Mae Lolly is a character we first met in Jackson's earlier novel Gods in Alabama. In that work, Rose Mae plays only a small role.

Here in Backseat Saints, we fast forward about ten years to find "Ro"(as she now calls herself) married and living in Amarillo Texas. Her husband, Tom Grandee, a big strapping brute who learned his manly behaviour at his father's knee, badly needs some anger management help. Rose has convinced herself that she is able to handle her life as an abused wife. She knows all about how to recognize the signs from watching her parents in their inglorious relationship. That is, until an airport gypsy told her she had to kill her husband. Either she killed him, or he was going to kill her.

Rose began her life as a victim when her mother just plain disappears and leaves seven year old Rose to fend with a drunken daddy. At 18, she left her father in a drunken stupor passed out on his favorite couch. She never looked back, and waitressed her way across the south, through abusive relationship after abusive relationship. When she meets Tom, she thinks this may be the path out of this life. She doesn't have to be Rose Mae Lolly anymore. She can be "Ro Grandee" and leave that old life behind. She has a job at her father-in-law's gun shop (so does her husband), she has her own hand-me-down car from her mother in law, she has a sweet little house which she keeps spotlessly clean (as much to avoid any trigger for Tom's anger as her belief in the godliness of cleanliness). She even has a devoted mutt of a dog - Gretel, who will play a prominent role in the story.

When she drives her elderly next door neighbor to the airport, she is just recovering from a rather brutal beating and finally beginning to fear for her life. As she helps carry luggage into the airport, she meets the gypsy who insists on 'reading her cards.' For some reason, Rose Mae seems to think the gypsy is her long lost mother and can't decide whether to follow the advice or not.

NO SPOILERS, but from there, the story really takes off, pulling the reader relentlessly toward what we think will be the inevitable ending. Other characters from Gods in Alabama appear briefly, but it is not necessary to have read the first book to fully understand and appreciate this one.

The ending is a stunner, and like her previous one, it leaves the reader breathless. It's definitely worth the time and trouble to track this one down. The audio was especially well done, read by the author who grew up in the south, and reads with exquisite inflection and accent. It was a joy to listen to.

[weeziesbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Backyard Saints was a difficult book to read in that it dealt with a prevalent problem that exists all around us. The problem of abuse and neglect. The main character Rose Mae Lolly is an abused wife and was an abused child. Much of the novel is filled with her constant effort to avoid the frightening and devastating physical and mental abuse by her husband. Unfortunately her father was also terribly abusive and reflections back to her childhood get jumbled with her present day situations.

As Rose Mae tries to leave her husband, she has an encounter with a stranger and her Tarot cards at the airport. Is this her long lost mother? The interaction and warnings from this stranger confirms in her mind that she must leave her husband to save herself. The story is a bit difficult to follow at places as it jumps back and forth between her past and present, but it is a book worth reading and would prompt valuable discussions during book club meetings.

[anovelsource1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Reading Backseat Saints was like jumping into Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disney and forgetting to buckle in! In true Joshilyn Jackson form, her heroine has a pitch-perfect Southern voice oozing honey and bourbon!

As soon as I thought I knew what would happen next Ms. Jackson threw in another curve! A fun, wild ride! One I know I will take again!

[jo3jo_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved listening to this story that was read by the author, Joshilyn Jackson, herself! I think I could have listened to her voice all day and found when I popped the first disc in I was so engrossed in her voice that I found myself driving only 45 mph on the way home one evening. Jackson did a great job of delivering such a serious storyline by managing to insert both humor and jaw-dropping fear within the same book.

We are introduced to Ro Grandee as an abused housewife whose life takes a drastic change after consulting with a gypsy in an airport one afternoon. Ro realizes that she must kill her husband before he kills her. When all goes wrong with the assassination attempt life at home changes as her husband seems to magically turn into the man that she fell in love with. After being abused for so long, how long can this change of attitude last?

Ro finds herself on the road, first to flee from her abusive husband, then to find her mother that abandoned her years ago, but in the end it turns out to be a search for her true self. As she battles demons from her past she learns a lot about herself and can finally reconcile with the cards that have been dealt to her in the game of life.

I really enjoyed this audiobook and definitely plan on reading more of Jackson's work in the future. With themes of emotional and physical abuse, forgiveness, and survival this book has a lot to offer and I think it would also make a great book club selection. As you can tell I really enjoyed this book so I definitely recommend it.

[bookaholicmom · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the second Joshilyn Jackson book I have read. I must say I like that her characters are well developed and most have a quirkiness about them. This cover caught my attention right off the bat. There had to be a great story as to why this woman would cut off her beautiful hair and hold it in front of herself while looking down. As I read and got acquainted with Rose Mae Lolley, I found myself having a love/hate relationship with her. There were times I wanted hug her and tell her everything was going to be all right. Other times she did things that were absolutely crazy. The story does deal with domestic violence and while it is a heavy subject, there were times I found myself laughing at some of the antics in the book. Rose Mae Lolley was quite the character and needless to say so were the people who were part of her life. This book took me on a roller coaster ride and in the end gave me one final twist which was a doozy! There are some pretty graphic scenes in the book, some sexual and some violent. Just a warning for those who don't wish to read that sort of thing. I hope to read more of Joshilyn Jackson's novels. I have all ready picked up a few more of her books.

[boobalack · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I cannot review this book objectively because it hit close to home. I had a wonderful Daddy, thank goodness, but I am a former abused wife. Suffice it to say that this book is down to earth and gripping, as are Ms. Jackson's three previous books. I loved all of them. I can't tell you what was to me the best part of this book because it involves a spoiler. I will say, however, that I was very, very happy when this event occurred. It took me totally by surprise -- not the what, but the who.

[bookishdame · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Joshilyn Jackson is an author of note in my book. I'm reading everything she's written...just can't get enough of her style and her storytelling. She held me captive in this novel about a young woman who was abandoned by her mother at a very young age, abused by her father, and abused to the point of fearing for her life by her husband. She mysteriously reconnects with her mother through a neighbor, and begins a road of truth-telling that ultimately saves her. It seems such a simple story, but the body of this writing is amazing! Jackson weaves elements of mystery and magic that keep us in a state of suspension and delight.