Tag Archives: To Kill A Mockingbird

‘The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt’, By ‘Andrea Bobotis’ — An Enthralling Story; ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ REDUX!

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by Anura Guruge
on May 6, 2022

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Click image to access the ‘Amazon Listing‘ for this spellbinding book. (Wow!)

The title (though provocative (in its way)) is misleading & does NOT do justice to this remarkable debut novel. But, then again ‘Mockingbird‘ was Harper Lee’s first too. Yes, this story treads some of the same themes when it comes to racism in the South — & even has a recluse, a murder & sibling rivalries (though there is, alas, no courtroom drama). The story with its intriguing twists & turns is told deftly & elegantly (with one amusing literary device at the end of each chapter).

Yes, I do believe that this book, along with ‘The Pecan Man‘ are worthy of being considered ‘Mockingbird’ reduxes — & coming from me that is high-praise since I am a Harper Lee devotee.

Andrea Bobotis, is an extremely gifted writer — & from what I can see she is quite famous (as she deserves to be). Bravo.

Click to ENLARGE and read here. Link to this page.

Given her background I am sure she did not get her historic facts wrong or mangle them at will to suit her story line. The main events of this book are set in the 1970s in South Carolina. Given that, I was surprised (possibly even mildly shocked) to see the amount of overt licentiousness that is described — with rampant infidelity & even teen pregnancies among 14 year olds. While we all know of the amount of affairs that took place between white males & black females, I did NOT realize that affairs between black men & married white women were that common place. The amount of carrying ons in that town in the 1920s would put 1970s Britain to shame.

And, then, as in ‘The Pecan Man’ we have an old car, unused for months, immediately jumping to life on the first crank. Not sure how accurate that would have been.

All said, this was a great book. I thoroughly enjoyed it & recommend it highly.

‘The Pecan Man’ By ‘Cassie Dandridge Selleck’ — ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ MkII?

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by Anura Guruge
on July 24, 2021

Click image to access Amazon listing.

“To Kill A Mockingbird” was the 1st school book I read, in the U.S., when I came here in 1967 as a 14-year old. It had a profound impact on I. I did NOT know much about U.S. racial injustice, but, nonetheless, enjoyed it for its gripping story. Yes, over the years I have revisited that book & made sure that all my kids read it. In the case of the last (whose name we will not mention (to spare blushes)) I made her read it out to me aloud because that was the only way she was going to read it — & it was part of her homeschooling curriculum (per I). It was kind of painful & I know it took us MONTHS.

I listened to ‘The Pecan Man’, on ‘Amazon Audible‘, earlier this week. I was blown away. It is very good. Very good. Brilliant, very light, very engaging style. I liked it so much that I bought the paperback so that others in the household can enjoy it.

The book actually, shamelessly, mentions “To Kill …” within its first page! Even the fictional town in which it is set has a name that starts: ‘May ..’, akin to ‘Maycomb’.

Yes, it involves a rape. But, it goes further, there is a murder as well!

But, there is no dramatic court scene. There are no court scenes at all, at all. I was going to say something, BUT I don’t want to giveaway too much.

Good book. Great book. Self-published I think. Bravo. She is a good writer (though I would NOT recommend her sequel to this book, which I finished listening to yesterday).

There was ONLY one thing in this book that gave me pause. Her deceased husband’s 1970s LTD has been languishing in the garage, not driven, not taken care of, for months. For months. In excess of 6, I think. But, it starts ‘first time’, with no problem. Maybe this was true with 1970s cars BECAUSE they had no electronics that sapped away at battery power. I need to check that. That was all.

Highly recommended.