Baby, everybo got their own reasons for doing things they do in life.
Brief summary: The novel opens when a young prostitute comes to Bigelow, Arkansas, to start over, far from her haunting past. Sugar moves next door to Pearl, who is still grieving for the daughter who was murdered fifteen years before. Over sweet-potato pie, an unlikely friendship begins, transforming both women’s lives–and the life of an entire town.
I can’t choose what my favorite thing is about this book…the amazing writing, the powerful friendship between Sugar and Pearl, the town learning lessons on judgement…I just can’t choose and THAT is why I’m giving this book five stars.
Female friendships can be life changing – when you find a friend at a time when you both need each other. Pearl and Sugar needed each other and despite what Sugar was perceived to be Pearl opened her arms and heart and allowing them both to heal a little.
To me, McFadden’s writing felt like Zora Neale Hurston meets Tayari Jones – amazing writing combined with characters leaping off of the page? Sold, gimme all of her books. I read this as a bud read for my #read group and hands down, we all loved it. I ordered the second book in the series halfway through I loved it so much.
Toni Rocchetti is a copy editor helping authors strengthen their narratives, deepen character arcs, and find the story that is already in the draft. She reads 80+ books a year across literary fiction, memoir, and nonfiction — and writes about what she is learning along the way. Work with Toni →
