In the past few months I've managed to read ALL of Kaye Gibbons books. This includes the following: Ellen Foster, Charms for the Easy Life, On the Occassion of My Last Afternoon, A Cure For Dreams, A Virtuous Woman and Divining Women. I love this author. Her work drew me in. At the end of each book, I sighed with satisfaction. I liked her work because despite it's difficult themes, it did not make me depressed. Often, books I love end of making me sad. This has been true of authors Ann Lamott and John Steinbeck. Also titles: Snowflower and the Secret Fan, The Kite Runner, and A Thousand Splendid Suns have left me feeling down. Chad will notice me moping around the house and say, "Are you reading a sad book again?"
The thing is, I like sad stories. My favorite thing about Kaye Gibbons is her ability to weave goodness and triumph into a sad story. There is something about sad stories (and sad music) that I enjoy. Chad thinks I'm crazy. He watches movies to escape and he dislikes unhappy endings. We watched Cold Mountain last night and he was not a happy camper when the credits were rolling at the end of that story.
My Kaye Gibbons roll is over. If anyone knows of similar authors, please let me know.
