The Story of Sassy Sweetwater

We meet Sassy Sweetwater when she returns home to Carter's Crossing, South Carolina in 1962. Despite what you read in the summary, this is really one heck of a "coming of age" story. Sassy is 13 when she returns to her mother's "kin", as Violet McLaughlin hasn't seen her family for quite some and they have never met her daughter Sassy. This isn't just about the Civil Rights Movement, although it is part of the novel. This is about family and not just any ordinary family, but one that's dysfunctional and disjointed. Sassy's journey down the family road is fraught with emotions, violence, the sexual freedom of the '60's and the awakening and growing up of a young girl. There are secrets abound, questions to which there are some answers, and answers that will grip Sassy in many emotional ways. How will she handle those secrets and how will it affect her future?

Well written and witty, this book is hard to put down. All y'all have to just get a hold of this book for yourselves, you won't be disappointed.

My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great novel that highlights strong Southern women. Violet returns home with her daughter, Sassy, after leaving to be a single mother years prior. Sassy is forever changed due to discovering secrets about her mother and of growing up during the Civil Rights Movement.

Finding Her Way

Sassy Sweetwater is the story of a girl of a girl born out of wedlock to the daughter of a rich owner of many factories. He was a cruel man. He was the reason her mother left home to have her in Louisiana and the reason she never returned home until she was destitute and had nowhere else to go.

Sassy grew up in Louisiana with her mother until she was a teenager, then her mother left with her biological father and left Sassy with her grandmother Edna. She finished growing up and lived most of her life with her Grandmother Edna in South Carolina. When she started living with her Grandma Edna it was at the tail end of the Civil Rights movement with the riots and cross burning.

The story is one of romance, tragedy, marriage and divorce. It is about happiness and hurt. It is a story of life. A story of her life and the lives of her relatives. It is a story of family secrets, of friendships, and heartache. It catches you in the heart and holds you until you reach the end of the story.

The characters are fantastic, the description of the surroundings are magnificent and you won't want to put the book down until the last page has been read.

I recommend this book.

Thanks to Vera Jane Cook, BooksGoSocial, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book for an honest review.

I received a free electronic copy of The Story of Sassy Sweetwater from Netgalley, Vera Jane Cook, and BooksGoSocial. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this work of my own volition and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to recommend Vera Jane Cook to friends and family. Sassy Sweetwater is an excellent example of Southern Noir.

The setting for this novel is Carter's Crossing, South Carolina during the turmoil of the 1960's racial riots. We join Sassy and her prodigal mother, Violet McLaughlin as they return to Carter's Crossing after 13 years on the run. The McLaughlin matriarch, Grandma Edna, folds Sassy into the wings of the family, but her mother Violet is soon back among the missing, and 13-year-old Sassy is left behind in Carter's Crossing among people she knows nothing about and a very structured southern life with Edna.

Sassy resents her mother's abandonment and feels at first that Grandma Edna doesn't like her, doesn't want her around, either. Soon however she understands that among the McLaughlin family Edna is the only one with common sense and morals. Most of the extended family are like a nest of vipers, snapping and snarling, and only looking out for number one. Add southern race riots and family secrets into the mix and life isn't pretty or safe, even in the cradle of family and home. But Sassy is versatile and has her own dreams. She will survive and thrive, despite the cards stacked against her...

This is a pretty good read about growing up in the 1960s in the south. It’s also about families and how the secrets they keep affect them all.

An interesting read about Sassy Sweetwater's journey from girl to woman. It's a thrilling ride!
I would recommend this book.
Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.