The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg — 5 out of 5 stars

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I’m a long, long, long-time Fannie Flagg, author fan. One of my all-time favorite movies is Fried Green Tomatoes.

Fannie Flagg wrote that.

I love books that explore the lives of women. That’s one of the reasons I wrote my novel, The Pastor’s Wife Wears Biker Boots. I yearn for good girlfriend relationships, but I think they’re really difficult. I think women’s lives are complex as they wrestle with their identity and who they are besides mom and wife.

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This book is just as funny and fresh as I expected it to be. It’s set in the south, and I  adore southern fiction. (Another reason why I set my novel partly in the south and why my current work in progress is set on the Mississippi.)

The main character in this book, Sookie Simmons Poole, has a difficult relationship with her overbearing mother, Lenore. After her children are grown and she’s caring for her aging mother who lives a few houses down, Sookie gets a letter that makes her question everything she knows about herself. The letter introduces us to the Jurdabralinskis of Wisconsin, whose girls were WASPS and flew bombers in WWII! (I never knew women flew bombers in WWII but they did! Stateside, but still!)

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Not only is the book full of hilarious moments, hearing Flagg read it on the audio version is a treat in itself. I hope it wins a Grammy.

I didn’t want the story to end. And when you don’t want a book to end, it’s a jolly good read.

I give it 5 out of 5 stars. The only thing I didn’t particularly like is the title. I don’t think it captures the full nature of the book. But maybe they named it this for marketing reasons. I think Sookie’s Journey or The Incredible Journey of Fritzie and Sookie or some such moniker as those would have been a better fit.

I hope they make this book into a movie. It’d be swell.

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