by: Cassie Dandridge Selleck
Goodreads description:
The Pecan Man is a work of Southern fiction whose first chapter was the First Place winner of the 2006 CNW/FFWA Florida State Writing Competition in the Unpublished Novel category.
In the summer of 1976, recently widowed and childless, Ora Lee Beckworth hires a homeless old black man to mow her lawn. The neighborhood children call him the Pee-can Man; their mothers call them inside whenever he appears. When the police chief’s son is found stabbed to death near his camp, the man Ora knows as Eddie is arrested and charged with murder. Twenty-five years later, Ora sets out to tell the truth about the Pecan Man. In narrating her story, Ora discovers more truth about herself than she could ever have imagined.
This novel has been described as To Kill a Mockingbird meets The Help.
Helen says: 🤓🤓🤓3/4
Good story. It kind of seems like it was written by an interloper though…meaning someone that assumes all southerners drink sweet tea and call each other Miss Helen and Miss Holly. I feel like that is artificial sometimes. Back to the story…a great plot with an unexpected turn of events that piqued my interest. I thought it was going to be rip off of To Kill a Mockingbird, but it was original.
Holly says: 🤓🤓🤓3/4
I recommend this one also – you will like the characters – the feisty Miss Ora, Blanche, Patrice, Grace, and the Pecan Man himself. Set in 1976, a time where one would hope such inexcusable and blatant racism was a thing of the past, this tale includes an abundance of it, but also love, loyalty, openheartedness, and a devotion to a deep-seeded attempt to do what is right. The story seems set in the wrong decade, and I had a disconnect with the ages of the characters (they seemed way older than their years), and there were lots of stereotypes that came into play, but don’t let that get in the way of a good story. You can read this book in a day or two, and you will be glad you did.
Helen and Holly Hit the Books 