How Sweet The Sound-Amy K. Sorrells

How Sweet The Sound Amy K. Sorrells David C. Cook, Mar 1 2014, $14.99 ISBN: 9781434705440 In 1979, three generations of the affluent pecan farming Harlan family members gather together in Bay Spring, Alabama to celebrate Thanksgiving. Instead of a happy festive affair, two males kill each other after one of them raped their sister. Thirteen year old Anniston saw her dad Rey and Uncle Cole die while her Aunt Comfort was sexually assaulted. Over the next few months, the surviving members grieve and cope differently over the shocking tragedy that destroyed their close bond. Anniston remains haunted by the demise of her dad, the cause of his death, and her aunt’s trauma. PTSD sufferer Comfort, who looked forward to a proposal from her beloved Solly, no longer wants to marry him or anyone. Steel Magnolia matriarch Princella mourns for only one of her sons while detesting the other as a defiling abomination. Her spouse Vaughn avoids family and friends as he believes one of his late offspring had to be devil-spawned. Anniston’s mom Oralee tries futilely to keep the family together This insightful late twentieth century version of the biblical tale of David’s children Amnon and Tamar is a deep southern inspirational that focuses on the aftermath on mourning loved ones following a rape and double murders. No longer sweet and innocent Anniston and horrified Comfort are the prime narrators who provide a profound perspective as to how the tragedy respectively impacts them and how they see the effect on other family members; on the other hand Princella seems underdeveloped when her first person diatribe occurs in an otherwise strong tale. Harriet Klausner