In late summer of 1963, Ray, along with her sister and her
mother, are moving from Charleston to Jasper, South
Carolina. Their mother has been caring for the elderly Mrs.
Pringle. The parting words coming from Mrs. Pringle's son
that the two girls are bastards sets the tone for the rest
of Ray's life in her need to be someone important and
respected.
Upon arriving in Jasper, Ray is invited to join three other
girls her age and their boy friends to steal watermelons,
an annual tradition by the group. Ray, Kitty B, Hilda and
Sis become steadfast friends, sharing all confidences,
except that which Ray is most ashamed of. As each of the
girls marries her high-school sweetheart, Ray reaches the
status of Jasper's First Lady. Continuing the Southern
traditions for the Wedding Guild is her legacy.
As each of their daughters is married, all four women are
involved in the preparations for the proper society
weddings and each reflect back on their lives and how
events have changed them. With the help of her church, Ray
is finding a way to put her early beginnings behind her and
come to terms with what's important in life.
I found this storyline a little difficult to follow with so
many characters introduced in the beginning and the story
oscillating back and forth between the 1960s and the
present. Each of the characters are clearly defined, but
again, not easy to follow because of the timelines. A good
description of Southern etiquette is given and some
interesting events revealed.
It's Steel Magnolias meets The Runaway
Bride with a Southern fiction flair sure to appeal to
fans of Sue Monk Kidd.
The weddings of Jasper,
South Carolina, have been run for years by four women
respectfully dubbed "The Wedding Machine." This summer the
daughters and sons of these four women are each
being "married off" (to some unlikely characters!) and the
gears of the machine begin to grind to a surprising
halt.
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