7.26.2011

The Swan House


Hello my friends!

After another late date night last night, I'm feeling like I could do this today:

Cutie B always claims he's not asleep, rather he's just "resting his eyes!"

Now in between my yawns, onto today's post!  I wanted to share a fabulous book with you:  The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser.  If you liked The Help, (which I posted about here), you will LOVE this book.


The Swan House is a coming of age story that takes place in Atlanta in the 1960s. Mary Swan Middleton's life is turned upside down when her mentally-ill, artist mother dies in the Orly Plane Crash of 1962.  

During her grief, her family's loyal maid, Ella Mae, decides to take Mary Swan to Grant Park, the inner city of Atlanta.  Ella Mae hopes that exposing Mary Swan to the poverty and sorrows of others and helping them through service will help Mary Swan's grief process.  Working in the inner-city exposes Mary Swan to a way of living she never knew existed and makes her begin to question ideas such as civil rights.  Mary Swan also forms a close friendship with Carl, a fellow teenager from the inner-city, and the two, with Mary Swan's best friend Rachel, embark on an adventure to discover who Sheila Middleton, Mary Swan's mother, really was.  In this story, as Mary Swan seeks to learn more about her mother, she in turn finds more about herself and cultivates relationships that will change her life forever.

Musser

I highly recommend this book to anyone, especially those of you who enjoy Southern literature.  I finished the book in just a few days (which was quite the feat considering how busy and exhausted I've been this summer).  It is told from the point of view of 16 year old Mary Swan and is a quick read that also really makes you think.  

Have you ever read this book?  If so, what'd you think?  What has been your favorite summer read so far?