It’s Sunday Evening Review Time. This week, in honor of International Women’s Day, Melody DeBlois reviews Rag Lady, the award-winning prequel to Susie Black’s Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series.
Here is a blurb to familiarize you with the characters and plot:
Recent college graduate Holly Schlivnik dreams of being a writer, but fate has other plans. A family crisis throws her into an improbable situation, and her life will never be the same. Determined to make her own luck when things don’t happen the way she plans, the wisecracking, irreverent transplanted Californian goes on a raucous, rollicking rollercoaster ride of hysterical adventures as a ladies’ apparel sales rep traveling in the deep South and ends up finding herself along the way.
Here is Melody’s review:
With college behind her and big dreams ahead, Holly Schlivnik is ready to take on her writing career. But her goals seem beyond her reach. Then, a family crisis arises, and her father, a ladies’ apparel sales rep, asks for her help. Stunned but unable to say no, she agrees. That incites a journey that will take her into many states in the heart of the South and into a future beyond her wildest imaginings.
Holly’s adventures on the road swept me up, and I laughed, fretted, and sometimes cried. A menagerie of colorful characters, each with their own relatable quirks, kept me turning pages, but Holly’s grandmother stole my heart. It’s not often that I find a character I can identify with so deeply. I am her age, so that might have something to do with it. Her saying, “Man plans and God laughs,” made me nod in agreement every time it came up. It’s so true. I don’t want to reveal any spoilers, but I felt grateful I learned about the racial tensions in the southern states during the 1970s, as seen through Holly’s eyes. The book’s ending was more than satisfying. But then, through Nana, she’d learned “how to live.” Rag Lady serves as a compelling prequel to the Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, providing valuable insights into Holly’s character. I highly recommend it.
https://books2read.com/Rag-Lady
Terrific review- Read Rag Lady!