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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us April 7, 2005 ‘As Hot As It Was You Ought To Thank Me’ By Chris Honoré Daily Tidings Reviewer “As Hot As It Was You Ought To Thank Me” is one very fine novel. Reminiscent of “To Kill A Mockingbird,” it’s told in the first person, from the point of view of Berry Jackson, a 13-year-old girl on the cusp of being a young woman. As a narrator, she is honest, heartbreakingly innocent and yet, in her own way, wise and down-to-earth. As it turns out, she has more common sense than most of the adults she knows. Berry tells of one long, damp summer in the mid-1950s, where nothing much happens at the beginning but everything happens at the end. Berry lives in Pinetta, Florida, a small, sweltering town where there are precious few secrets, but the ones that are held close end up changing the lives of Berry and her family forever. Surrounding the town are woods that steam with humidity, inhabited by snakes, rumored to have acres of quicksand that cause fathers to disappear, leaving only a hat and not much else as evidence that they will never return. Author Kincaid takes her time getting to the core plot of the book; however, this long and languid set up gives a kaleidoscopic view of Pinetta and its people. You are introduced to her mother, Ruthie, a beautiful woman who struggles with an abiding sense of loneliness and barely disguised feelings of lust for the local preacher. Her father, Ford, is remote, treasured to be sure, and the principal of Pinetta’s one school. Berry has two brothers, one older and one younger. And there is Jimmy, who lives next door, who has older sisters and has worn a dress every day of his life until he was ready to begin school. Not long after the summer is underway, Pinetta is hit by a destructive hurricane that rips through the town leveling the school, felling trees, and damaging countless homes, Berry’s included. It’s during this storm that her father disappears and the mystery of his whereabouts becomes central to the narrative. Not long after the hurricane has passed through and the damage assessed, a chain gang comes to town to begin clearing debris, repairing the roads and the school. Berry becomes deeply enamored with a handsome young prisoner. She hungers to know what being a young woman feels like, to understand the meaning of the changes she knows are taking place within her, made manifest by her changing body. Berry is coming of age and her insights are sweet and poignant. So clear is Berry Jackson’s voice, so compelling and artful, she pulls you completely into her world and when the last page is turned it is with regret that you have to leave Pinetta, and Berry. “As Hot As It Was” is masterful writing, and Kincaid demonstrates complete confidence in her prose by never rushing the story. Which is all to the good: Pinetta, Florida is a place where you want to linger, hot as it is, making this novel a wonderful read. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams