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kamckim's review against another edition
4.0
Told in a series of letters to various friends and family, Ivy's letters cover a lifetime of living in rural Western VA/Appalachia. I usually enjoy Lee Smith, but I was really off-put by Ivy's dialect. It was too "forced" for me. Perhaps this is because the story is entirely written by Ivy in letters, so there is no break from her direct narration as there would be in a more traditionally written novel.
erika_is_reading's review against another edition
5.0
I should have read this years ago. Years. I know these people. My great-grandparents were in West Virginia . . . my grandparents were in Pittsburgh . . . and here I am with a college degree, a graduate degree, and a law degree. And I know this culture. I loved this book so much, I didn't want it to end, but everything does. It's just her letters, from childhood to old age, wonderful letters, and she's such a fascinating woman, so strong, so thoughtful, so stubborn, so perceptive . . . and so real.
blakehalsey's review against another edition
5.0
fair and tender ladies is a beautiful book. what set it apart from many novels is the author's development of the main character's voice. fair and tender ladies is an epistolary novel which means it is told solely through letters. ivy, the main character, loves to write letters to her family and friends and the reader gets to know ivy, very well, through her words to sisters, brothers, dead fathers, dead sisters, friends, and even an occasional enemy. ivy was born at the turn of the century (1900) in the mountains of virginia. her story is one of hard work, farming, city life, passion, love lost, mistakes, death, and most of all, life. the readers gets a true sense of mountain life in appalachia during the early twentieth century, but more than that, the reader gets to know a person. ivy seemed as real to me as my own family. by the end, i really felt i had walked through the major events of her life with you. i was the recipient of her letters. she is altogether human, wanting love and children, fresh air and freedom. she also wants adventure and to actually feel alive which leads her to an affair that hurts her family. but even that mistake became part of her in a way that made her life better, her marriage better, her daily life more satisfying. i guess that's the beautiful thing about mistakes. fair and tender ladies is an altogether human book. a human book...that's the best way i, or anyone in my opinion, can describe this novel.
emilyusuallyreading's review against another edition
3.0
What I Liked
I can see why so many people love this novel. Ivy Rowe is a compelling character, and this book is fascinatingly unique. It consists of every letter that Ivy ever wrote from a small child to her death, and the reader grows up with this young woman.
What I Didn't Like
The passing of time makes Fair and Tender Ladies go on forever. It spans a lifetime, and it feels like that. It is not a read in one sitting kind of story.
I can see why so many people love this novel. Ivy Rowe is a compelling character, and this book is fascinatingly unique. It consists of every letter that Ivy ever wrote from a small child to her death, and the reader grows up with this young woman.
What I Didn't Like
The passing of time makes Fair and Tender Ladies go on forever. It spans a lifetime, and it feels like that. It is not a read in one sitting kind of story.
lindasdarby's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. once again I found a book with a strong female character whose life spans almost an entire century.
Ivy is strong and smart and interesting. she made mistakes and her life did not turn out how she expected it would but she did her best. I finished this book and kept thinking about how life is bittersweet. harder than we think it will be with a few bright spots that we need to enjoy along the way. this book will be read over and over.
Ivy is strong and smart and interesting. she made mistakes and her life did not turn out how she expected it would but she did her best. I finished this book and kept thinking about how life is bittersweet. harder than we think it will be with a few bright spots that we need to enjoy along the way. this book will be read over and over.
jmooremyers's review against another edition
4.0
Daddy says he needs a mountain to rest his eyes aginst. (p 11)
And it ain't nobody up here but usuns. (p 13)
Miss Maynard, do not pity me. Do not even bother to dislike me, nor pity me, nor anything else, because I do not need anything from you, nor want it either. (p 141)
Who all do you reckon lives over there? Oakley asks real slow. I don't know, I told him. But I know what he means. It is like there has been nothing out there but what we have seen with our own eyes or heard in the night, nobody living there but what we made up in our heads. And now - lo and behold - there is lights all over the bottom of Bethel Mountain, there is somebody there clearly, people living in our view. (p 194)
You know what Granny used to call molasseys? the long sweetening. (p 202)
A man can work so hard he gets caught way down inside of himself. (p 205)
Oh Joli, you get so various as you get old! I have been so many people. And yet I think the most important thing is Don't forget. Don't ever forget. I tell you this now, in particular. A person can not afford to forget who they are or where they came from, or so I think, even when the remembering brings pain. (p 265)
The hoot owls sounded like people calling back and forth through the trees. Other times they sound like cats, or like the inside of your head, screaming. (p 269)
Oh Silvaney, I never knowed how much I loved him until I left him, and that's a fact. And now I have lost him again and this time it is for good. No it is not for good. It is for ever. Life seems contrary to me, as contrary as I am. I feel like you never say what you ought to, not do as you should, and then it is too late. It is all over. I have spent half of my life wanting and the other half grieving and most often I have been wanting and grieving the same thing. There has been precious little inbetween. (p 274-275)
And it ain't nobody up here but usuns. (p 13)
Miss Maynard, do not pity me. Do not even bother to dislike me, nor pity me, nor anything else, because I do not need anything from you, nor want it either. (p 141)
Who all do you reckon lives over there? Oakley asks real slow. I don't know, I told him. But I know what he means. It is like there has been nothing out there but what we have seen with our own eyes or heard in the night, nobody living there but what we made up in our heads. And now - lo and behold - there is lights all over the bottom of Bethel Mountain, there is somebody there clearly, people living in our view. (p 194)
You know what Granny used to call molasseys? the long sweetening. (p 202)
A man can work so hard he gets caught way down inside of himself. (p 205)
Oh Joli, you get so various as you get old! I have been so many people. And yet I think the most important thing is Don't forget. Don't ever forget. I tell you this now, in particular. A person can not afford to forget who they are or where they came from, or so I think, even when the remembering brings pain. (p 265)
The hoot owls sounded like people calling back and forth through the trees. Other times they sound like cats, or like the inside of your head, screaming. (p 269)
Oh Silvaney, I never knowed how much I loved him until I left him, and that's a fact. And now I have lost him again and this time it is for good. No it is not for good. It is for ever. Life seems contrary to me, as contrary as I am. I feel like you never say what you ought to, not do as you should, and then it is too late. It is all over. I have spent half of my life wanting and the other half grieving and most often I have been wanting and grieving the same thing. There has been precious little inbetween. (p 274-275)
vabnsdtn's review against another edition
5.0
This was my 1st Lee Smith book, which I read years ago! But I still remember how moving and impacting the characters were! True classic Southern Lit!
plaidpladd's review against another edition
4.0
I had no idea the timeline of this book when I started, so I was pleasantly surprised to be reading something that spanned decades. Family saga+epistolary novel, so obvs I was happy.