A Good Hard Look

Summary (from the publisher): Forced by illness to leave behind a successful life as a writer in New York, Flannery O'Connor has returned to her family farm in Milledgeville, Georgia. She desires a quiet, solitary existence, but her mother, Regina, insists that she engage with the life of their small town, and she drags Flannery to the wedding of a family friend.

Cookie Himmel embodies every fact of Southern womanhood that Flannery lacks: she is revered for her beauty and grace; she is at the helm of every ladies' organization in town; and she has returned from her time in Manhattan with a rich fiance, Melvin Whiteson. Melvin has come to Milledgeville to begin a new chapter in his life, but meeting Flannery pushes him further than he ever imagined. She knocks down the suppositions on which his life is built, until the whole house of cards threatens to collapse.

Melvin is not the only person in Milledgevill who feels that life is passing him by. Lona Waters, the dutiful wife of a local policeman, is hired by Cookie to help create a perfect home - a stark contrast to the unhappiness in her own. When Lona is offered an opportunity to remember what it feels like to be truly alive, she seizes it with both hands, regardless of the consequences.

In the aftermath of one tragic afternoon, these ordinary and extraordinary people are forced to take a good, hard look at the choices they have made. In this luminous and moving novel, Ann Napolitano honors O'Connor's tremondous, uncompromising spirit.

Review: A Good Hard Look is set in the small southern town of Milledgeville, Georgia, the town where Flannery O'Connor spent most of her life, writing her novels and short stories on her peacock covered farm, Andalusia. This novel follows a fictional series of events in Flannery and her mother Regina's lives, as well as that of other Milledgeville residents including Melvin and Cookie Whiteson, Lona Waters, and Joe Treadle. There is considerable antagonism between Flannery and Cookie - from Flannery because Cookie is everything - beautiful, socially accomplished, and a wife and mother - that Flannery is not, and Cookie because she resents the stark illumination she uncovers in Flannery's writing. Additionally, the two women conflict because of Cookie's husband, Melvin, who becomes close friends with Flannery and secretly visits her on her farm.

This book was of particular interest to me because I took a seminar class on Flannery O'Connor during college and visited Milledgeville, Georgia and Andalusia farm as part of the class. I love reading works set in places where I have been, because I can picture the characters in the setting so vividly. Flanery is seen sitting on her front porch, writing in her bedroom, and on the grounds with her peacocks - places where I have stood. I love feeling so connected to a piece. Additionally, many of the themes that O'Connor wrote about are discussed in this - her Catholic faith, moments of grace, random and terrible tragedies.

Napolitano was courageous in writing about an actual author, and putting herself in Flannery's shoes. There is considerable meta-writing, moments when Flannery muses to herself on the state of her current writing and where it will come next. "Wrestling with the unwieldy shape and size of the novel had been like trying to envelop her mother's favorite stallion with wrapping paper and a bow. The novel had stomped its hooves and snorted hot air and bared its teeth and kicked her. Flannery had walked away exhausted and bruised, unsure whether she had done the job she'd set out to accomplish" (p.168). Additionally, other characters are moved by reading Flannery's work, including Melvin who thinks about "Hulga, in "Good Country People." She was like Flannery: crippled, living with her mother. When Hulga's wooden leg was stolen by a salesman, Melvin had to put the book down for an entire day" (p.85).

It was particularly bold to presume the author's intent, even within this fictional format - for example when Melvin tells Flannery that "All of your characters are left in some kind of pain," she responds by saying, "Maybe I left them on their way to a happy ending. [...] Did you ever think of that?" (p.85). Additionally, the whole tragic plotline of Lona and Joe and Melvin and Cookie's baby girl, Rose, is entirely fictional. It's interesting to see Napolitano add events to O'Connor's life that did not occur. I do like the way she managed to keep so much of Flannery's life historically accurate while at the same time spinning a fictional narrative that intertwined the lives of multiple Milledgeville residents.

I was struck by how much the first half of this novel reminded me of The Help. Although this novel does not tackle racial inequality, it is set in a small southern town during a similar time period, features a writer exposing secrets about the town, and individuals of different social status interacting. Cookie, although not malicious like Hilly in The Help, mirrored Hilly's character. Like Hilly, Cookie is seen as socially prominent and influential and is seen interacting with domestic help, in this case Lona, who has been hired to sew curtains, however she does so with a grace and ease that Hilly does not possess; "There was a shift in the air that she recognized. With a simple adjustment of her posture - a relaxation of her shoulders - Cookie was temporarily promoting Lona from domestic staff to friend and confidante. Lona had seen this frequently with her mother, a silent seamstress expected to go about her work unless a client decided she could offer a convenient perspective" (p.77). Like Hilly, Cookie is outraged by the writing published in her town, which she feels exposes the town's secrets, and tries to have Flannery's books removed from the local library. "She would move forward with her plan to have Flannery O'Connor's books removed from circulation. [...] She wanted her daughter to grow up in a town where she didn't have anything to fear. She didn't want Rose to censor herself out of concern that she might be forever trapped in print" (p.135).

I was disappointed with the plot in the aftermath of the twin tragedies that occur. The book got very sad, and somewhat implausible concerning certain character developments after that point. However, I do think Napolitano tied up Flannery's story line nicely. Additionally, I like that the peacocks that Flannery loved are a constant throughout the novel, from the first line to the last. The ironic combination of their beauty and elegance, side by side by their horrible screaming noise and ornery dispositions seem to mirror the both beauty and tragedy that occur for the residents of Milledgeville explored in this novel.

Stars: 4