Vera Jane Cook

Dancing Backwards in Paradise
Vera Jane Cook
c. 2006
ISBN: 10: 0-595-38871-X
iUniverse
Lincoln, NB
334 pages, $19.95

“Dancing Backward in Paradise” begins in 1966 when the 19 year-old heroine, Grace Place is living in Paradise Trailer Park in Hixson, TN. Grace has just accepted a job at a nearby motel restaurant. On her way to work for the first night, her car breaks down and three local men she knows offer to help and then try to rape her. Grace recalls that her paternal grandfather, Granddaddy Ellsworth, who is referred to as a preacher because he frequently preaches to others, is not only fanatical but is also oversexed. He earlier molested Grace and her younger brother, Tommy. “I lost my cherry long before when Granddaddy Ellsworth stuck his finger up there and popped it.”

Grace’s mother suggests a second job as housekeeper for Betty Ann Houseman. Betty Ann is twenty-five. She hires Grace on the spot. Betty’s husband Kevin Kane Housemen is dying from cancer and has an “Itsy, bitsy pin dick.” Two weeks later Grace meets Lenny Dean and falls in love with him. Shortly afterward, Grace finds Betty Ann in bed with one of the three men who tried to rape Grace. Grace’s brother Tommy soon has sex with Betty Ann. Grace later discovers that her boyfriend, Lenny Bean, is also having sex with Betty Ann. Granddaddy Ellsworth finds out and has a fanatical harangue about sin and evil.

Grace and her friend Ginny Jo decide to go to New York City. In New York, Grace gets a job at Bernie’s Burgers and then meets Brandon Carr. Brandon offers Grace to rent an apartment that he and his wife Tia own. Brandon arranges a job through an influential friend for Grace to work as a model for TV commercials. Grace gradually falls in love with Brandon and eventually wants to marry him. Meanwhile, in Hixson, Tommy has sex with another girl, Scarlet, and gets her pregnant. She has an abortion. Grace tells her father that Tommy had been fooling with both Ginny Jo and with Scarlet, and the two girls had been fooling with each other. Granddaddy Ellsworth overhears and bellows “God punishes the unholy and dims the light of righteousness before thee! Call the Lord, sinners. Let the Lord be on the receiving end of your phone calls!” He was on his knees praying.

Betty Ann eventually marries Lenny Bean, Grace’s ex-boyfriend. Betty Ann afterwards explains to Grace why she married Lenny. It’s not a happy marriage, and Betty Ann asks Grace, if anything happens to Betty Ann, to take care of her child “Tabby” that she and her late husband Kevin Kane had. Later, Granddaddy Ellsworth preaches to Grace, calling her a “New York hussy” and stating that “entertainers go to hell.” Scarlet, who had earlier moved in with the Places and had befriended Granddaddy, screams “Save me Jesus! Take this evil from my groin!” Granddaddy hugs her “with one hand on his private part and the other clutching his bible to his heart.” This repeated vilification of a fictional character sort of sets the tone for this award-winning novel.

The author then weaves these various threads into a plot where Betty Ann’s daughter Tabby really becomes in peril. Grace, at the risk of her own happiness, decides a course of action that can rescue Tabby. If you like racy novels, you might have an appetite for this one. If you think a fictional character, obviously mentally ill, can diminish your own sense of right and wrong, you might find this novel hard to digest.… (mehr)

It is my pleasure to once again read a work by Vera Jane Cook. Thank you to Ms. Cook and Virtual Author Book Tours for the chance to read and review Pleasant Day.

What a pleasant day to sit back and read a nice book with a very pleasant name, right? Wrong! Pleasant Day by Vera Jane Cook is a murder mystery filled with plot twists that will keep you on your toes. And "Pleasant Day" isn't what you'll experience, but who as she is a very complex character. So often I "had it all figured out" only to find that I was having to rearrange my thinking to fit with the newest piece of information.

Ms. Cook is a very skilled author and utilizes her talents to write believable characters with great depth. Pleasant has seen too much during her limited years and it leaves her with a story that needs to be heard. Clarissa is the older woman who befriends her and with her psychic ability she will take us on a journey to solve the mysteries of Pleasant.

With a unique style of writing, Ms. Cook has once again scored big with me and I give Pleasant Day five steaming hot cups of coffee and I highly recommend Pleasant Day to those who enjoy a great murder mystery!


©April 14, 2015

Patricia, Room With Books… (mehr)

Pleasant Day is an atypical teenage girl living in a somewhat atypical family in rural South Carolina. Pleasant is an intelligent and well-read girl with a penchant for profanity when speaking. Her father is her idol, but he likes to go out drinking and he's having an affair. Pleasant is a witness to both as her father generally takes her along on his evening "drives" to the bar and rendezvous with his lover. Her mother comes across as a kind and gentle woman that is emotionally distant from Pleasant. Pleasant's brother, Sawyer, more concerned about his appearance than anything else, feels that Pleasant may be spending too much time reading. Pleasant's life is turned upside down one summer when she learns that one of her best friends has been found dead in unusual circumstances and her other best friend is implicated in that death. Pleasant's summer is about to spiral completely out of control with a chance encounter with Clarissa Blackwell.

I found Pleasant Day to be a fast-paced read. I did have some difficulty getting into this story because my inner-prude kept rearing its head with the mild profanity spouted by Pleasant. The more I read, the better I understood Pleasant and began to see her usage of profanity as a shield. Pleasant's family life isn't abusive nor does she live in abject poverty, but her family life is sorely strained by her father's habitual adultery, her brother's "effeminate" qualities, and the passive-aggressive behavior of her mother. Struggling to deal with the impact of learning of one friend's death by murder, she literally runs into a woman that will bring the devastating effects of another murder into her life. This story is told in the alternating voices of Pleasant and Clarissa. As Pleasant and Clarissa become better acquainted, secrets are revealed that may have devastating results (no, I won't tell you what the secret is . . . read the book!). I thought Pleasant Day was part coming-of-age, part family drama (trust me, there's plenty of drama), and part mystery. If you're looking for a unique read for this spring or summer, you'll want to put Pleasant Day on your TBR list.… (mehr)

Pleasant Day by author Vera Jane Cook is an intriguing southern women's fiction with a suspenseful murder mystery twist that will keep the reader sitting on the edge of their seats!

Set in the small southern town of Hollow Creek, South Carolina, this riveting story is told in the first person narrative by fifteen year old Pleasant Day, who wants to solve the mystery of who really killed her friend Millie Grady. Pleasant unexpectedly meets sixty year old Clarissa Blackwell, who has the gift of psychic ability. With a small town full of complex people, buried secrets, and two murders that were committed fifteen years apart, Pleasant and Clarissa are brought together by an old mystery and a dark past that comes to the surface and will forever change their worlds.

Pleasant Day is an intriguing tale that has enough drama, mystery, and suspense that easily drew me in and kept me turning the pages. Author Vera Jane Cook weaves a complex story told by a sassy southern teenage girl with a potty mouth, she's an old soul whose point of view was so unique that I found myself liking this straight talking and take no crap kind of teen, even though I wanted to wash her mouth out with soap!

There is a great mixture of humor and raw gritty drama within this multi-layered storyline, it has enough gripping twists and turns that keeps the reader guessing what will happen next. As a fan of southern fiction, the author does a great job of transporting the reader to the small town of Hollow Creek with a rich description of the setting, southern charm, and quirky memorable townspeople. From the complex relationships between the characters, the deeply buried town secrets, to the clever intertwining of the past and present murder mysteries that unexpectedly brings Pleasant and Clarissa together, Pleasant Day is a thoroughly riveting story that will keep you captivated until the surprising conclusion!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Premier Virtual Author Book Tours.

http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2015/05/pleasant-day-by-vera-jane-cook...… (mehr)