Gods in Alabama

Overview

When Arlene Fleet headed off to college in Chicago, she made three promises to God: She would never again lie, never fornicate outside of marriage, and never, ever go back to her tiny hometown of Possett, Alabama (the "fourth rack of Hell"). All God had to do in exchange was to make sure the body of high school quarterback Jim Beverly was never found. Ten years later, Arlene has kept her promises, but an old schoolmate has recently turned up asking questions. And now Arlene's African American beau has given her a tough ultimatum: introduce him to her family, or he's gone. As she prepares to confront guilt, discrimination, and a decade of deception, Arlene is about to discover just how far she will go to find redemption--and love.

Editorial Reviews

Arlene Fleet, the refreshingly imperfect heroine of Jackson's frank, appealing debut, launches her story with a list of the title's deities: "high school quarterbacks, trucks, big tits, and also Jesus." The first god, also a date rapist by the name of Jim Beverly, she left dead in her hometown of Possett, Ala., but the last she embraces wholeheartedly when high school graduation allows her to flee the South, the murder and her slutty reputation for a new life in Chicago. Upon leaving home, Arlene makes a bargain with God, promising to forgo sex, lies and a return home if he keeps Jim's body hidden. After nine years in Chicago as a truth-telling celibate, an unexpected visitor from home (in search of Jim Beverly) leads her to believe that God is slipping on his end of the deal. As Arlene heads for the Deep South with her African-American boyfriend, Burr, in tow, her secrets unfold in unsurprising but satisfying flashbacks. Jackson brings levity to familiar themes with a spirited take on the clichs of redneck Southern living: the Wal-Mart culture, the subtle and overt racism and the indignant religion. The novel concludes with a final, dramatic disclosure, though the payoff isn't the plot twist but rather Jackson's genuine affection for the people and places of Dixie.
Copyright (c) Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Author Information

Bio of Joshilyn Jackson

I'm a thirty-something mother of two who lives in semi-rural Georgia. I have two kids, my son Sam, and my daughter, Maisy. I think of myself as a stay-at-home-mom who writes. I've always written. My parents have books I wrote and self-published using the "crayola-and-stapler" method. I've always made time for it and I married a man who took my writing seriously enough to treat my time like it was valuable even though I was "just a housewife." That's a rare man, but it took me awhile to see it; we were best friends for seven years before I noticed what a catch he was. So writing, wifing, mothering, that's my real life and it feels very natural to me to be doing all these things. Publishing, however, is quite a different story. Going to New York, book tours, seeing my words in print with gorgeous covers in my local book store....all that seems as fictional to me as anything I make up in my novels. I always have this faint tinge of surprise when I realize my friend Caryn, who calls me to talk books and ask for my pages and gives me invaluable feedback for revisions, is actually my editor who holds an actual book contract with my name on it in actual New York City. Weird. I'm very involved with my church, Powder Springs First United Methodist, and I am on the school council my son's elementary school. I like to bake and a bread machine is the top of my Christmas list. I think these things might surprise people who have read my novels. My books are funny and have, I think, a very positive world view at the bottom of them, but the humor is often dark and I tend to have some violent undercurrents. After Gods in Alabama came out, I got a little bit of a "What's a nice girl like you doing with a book like this " reaction. I think that edge in my stories comes from the way I read ' I am hugely eclectic and so my influences are very scattered.

Customer Reviews

There are no customer reviews available at this time. To add your review, Register or Sign In to your account using our free Reader Library software.

Additional Info

Imprint

Grand Central Publishing

Filesize

275.40 KB

Number of Pages

320

eBook ISBN

9780759513532