(8/9/2001)
Judith King
When I started reading this, I kept thinking it was an awful lot like To Kill A Mockingbird, and I think that was deliberate on Siddons' part. We have Peyton, whose mother died after her birth, Dad, Aunt Augusta, the members of The Losers Club: Peyton, Ernie who is 34 and lives with mom, and Boot, a little boy with a birth defect which causes him to wear a shoe with a buildup of six inches, and Clothilde/Chloe, Boot's grandmother and cook for Peyton and her Dad. Peyton is a tall, scrawny prepubescent, and truly considers herself a loser. Of these, Aunt Augusta is the best drawn character early, and a true witch she is, too. The time is 1961, in a small town south of Atlanta. Enter Nora: Peyton's cousin (2nd or 3rd) on her deceased mother's side. Nora is young, hip, outlandish in attire and language (wait till she describes the color of..) driving a pick Thunderbird. She has... a past. Oh oh. Have to say this is not one of Siddons' best, but it is a good story and a quick read.