COLD SASSY TREE - Olive Ann Burns

About this title: Early in the 20th century, the town of Cold Sassy is scandalized when Will Tweedy's grandfather recklessly marries, just three weeks after the death of his wife, a young Yankee milliner named Miss Love. Olive Ann Burns's beloved novel is not only a poignant and comic coming-of-age story but a shrewd picture of an insular community gradually accepting the transformations that inevitably accompany the coming of modern times.

Editorial Reviews

When her long and valiant fight against cancer and congestive heart failure came to an end, Burns's last wish was that the finished chapters of the sequel to Cold Sassy Tree might reach her many faithful readers in published form. Leaving Cold Sassy honors that wish, but it represents an act of homage rather than a finished work of fiction. The extant 15 chapters are obviously in need of tightening and polishing, and the reader must depend on the editor's notes to learn of Burns's plans for the novel; the actual text barely introduces the story. Burns intended to tell, again in Will Tweedy's (her father's) voice, the fictionalized story of her parents' marriage--sorely tried by Depression poverty, incompatibility, and her father's infidelities, yet finally successful. Fans of Cold Sassy Tree will enjoy the affectionate recollections of Burns's editor and friend, which constitute one third of the text.