Looking Back - Jewel

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Jewel by Bret Lott

Fiction

1999 Pocket Books (first published in 1991)

Read in December 1999

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Jewel is the story of how quickly a life can change; how, like lightning, an unforeseen event can set us on a course without reason or compass. 

In the backwoods of Mississippi, a land of honeysuckle and grapevine, Jewel and her husband, Leston, are truly blessed; they have five fine children. When Brenda Kay is born in 1943, Jewel gives thanks for a healthy baby, last-born and most welcome.

In this story of a woman's devotion to the child who is both her burden and God's singular way of smiling on her, Bret Lott has created a mother-daughter relationship of matchless intensity and beauty, and one of the finest, most indomitable heroines in contemporary American fiction.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

Beautifully written! I admired Jewel's strength and courage, as well as her commitment to her marriage. I will definitely read more of Lott's books. He captured the female voice just well as Wally Lamb did with She's Come Undone.

My Current Thoughts:

I remember reading this with an online book group. I no longer own my copy, but would like to read it again. Maybe I'll see about getting it on audio.