The Persia Cafe
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.24 (760 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0312262191 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 276 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 0000-00-00 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Karen N. said The best book I've read in quite a while.. Beautiful imagery and a heart wrenching story of how life was in the south during the 60's. Sometimes funny, sometimes sickening, the author has a wonderful way of weaving the two together. An interesting read for anyone who lived in the 60's and a necessary eye opener for those who came later, lest we never forget how far we've come and yet how much farther we still have to go in racial equality. The author's style of writing is wonderful and entertaining and there is an element of suspense right up until the end. It's a book that grabs. deft recounting of female friendship during racist era Taut, languid and ominous, Melany Neilson's "The Persia Cafe" is a remarkable debut novel. Treating the theme of interracial friendship during the formative years of the civil rights movement, "Cafe" explores the corrosive impact of racism through the evolving relationship between two honorable, frustrated women. Uncommonly understated, Ms. Neilson's writing compels the reader to construct detail, both in the evolution of the plot and the impact of events on the two protagonists. The novel builds an almost unbearable tension as the reade. "Another fine Southern writer" according to Amazon Customer. What is it about the South that evokes such powerful stories? Melany Neilson is a very talented writer, but I think even she would have to admit that living in the South offers so much to authors, that all they have to do is pay attention. Although Persia, Mississippi is fictional, it really isn't. It is every small town in Mississippi that I have ever been through. Having lived in Mississippi all my life, Persia just makes sense. I know those people. I have been in that cafe. I have stood on the banks of that river. And although I think
Like the caf of its title, the narrative serves up old-fashioned fare, and lots of it, lovingly prepared. Just who is responsible for Earnest March's death is clear, even to Fannie, but how that murder changes Fannie and the town, whether anyone in her own family was involved and whether guilt can be proved are mysteries that Neilson artfully develops. More baked ham. From Publishers Weekly "To the tables I hauled more fried chicken. . Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Delicate corn pudding," says Fannie Leary, the narrator of Neilson's richly rendered debut novel, as she describes her work cooking and serving her neighbors. All this is narrated in sensuous and vivid prose: a cook's hands are "yellow-gloved in cornmeal"; first sex leaves a young woman thinking of "salt and green onion." However, as Fanny remarks, "There is a narrow moment between ripeness and rot," and Neilson's sentences sometimes ripen beyond clarity. In the summer o
Having come within an inch of her life, Fannie Leary is determined to take a good look at it -- to figure out, in fact, what is her part in the tragedy.Growing up in a small Mississippi River town, Fannie works at the local cafe, trying to hold her own in a world of slow expectations and hard boundaries.Dreaming that her cooking will be her ticket out of Persia, she cleaves to Mattie, the irrepressible black woman who runs the kitchen; to Will, the troubled, quiet boy she falls in love with; and eventually to Sheila Jones, a reclusive young girl who has returned with her mother from California to the town after her father's death.But when a young black boy suddenly disappears and the town erupts in violence, she is the only one who can piece their story together.What she uncovers is as unexpected as it is heartbreaking.The Persia Caf examines the ordinariness of racism, and what people will do to one another in the name of loyalty.It is a story of a place where dreams are paid for in blood.But it is also about a woman who has other, perhaps even more complex business to attend as she confronts a vastly transforming world, and the personal search she must make, the difficult question she must ultimately ask: How do you forgive those who show no regret, or even understanding?A novel about innocence passing, along with an American age, The Persia Caf is a story of murder, betrayal, and the possibility of redemption.With The Persia Caf, award-winning author Melany Neilson establishes herself as a remarkable new voice in Southern fiction.AUTHORBIO: Melany Neilson grew up on a farm near Ebenezer, Mississippi.Her first book, Even Mississippi, won the Lillian Smith Award, the Mississippi Authors Award, was named Gustavas Myers Outstanding Book on Human Rights, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.She now lives in California with her husband, Fred Slabach, and her young twin sons.The Persia Caf is her first novel.