The Homespun Wisdom of Myrtle T. Cribb - Hardcover

Reynolds, Sheri

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1618580132 ISBN 13: 9781618580139

Publisher: Turner, 2012

Synopsis

The #1 New York Times bestselling author Sheri Reynolds returns with a “nontraditional devotional”—at once a hilarious and inspirational novel packed with profound advice from the journey of the unforgettable Myrtle Cribb.

Myrtle T. Cribb, a special-needs teacher from Virginia’s Eastern Shore, is captive in a dysfunctional marriage. Tired of living up to her husband’s and everyone else’s standards, Myrtle impulsively heads to wherever the road will take her. But soon she gets a surprise of her own. She finds an unlikely stowaway on her journey: Hellcat, the local drunk.

Together, they embark on a pilgrimage that takes them everywhere from a shady highway motel to a hippie retreat center, developing an unlikely friendship while finding wisdom in the most unlikely places. The journey forces Myrtle to evaluate her marriage, her priorities, and her own prejudices, and compels her to share her hard-earned insights with other women who feel some dissatisfaction in their lives.

With its iconoclastic, complex, and irresistible cast of characters, and bold yet sincere advice, The Homespun Wisdom of Myrtle T. Cribb is an engaging, heartbreaking, and joyful story to be cherished by those seeking an understanding of life’s greatest mysteries.

About this title

About the Author:

Sheri Reynolds is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of five novels, including The Rapture of Canaan. She lives in Virginia and teaches at Old Dominion University, where she is the Ruth and Perry Morgan Chair of Southern Literature.

Review:

“Ms. Reynolds’s poetic gifts are uncommonly powerful.” —The New York Times

“Reynolds . . . is a gifted writer with a deceptively simple style and a keen ear for dialogue.” —The Boston Globe

“The newest and most exciting voice to emerge in contemporary Southern fiction.” —San Francisco Bay Guardian

From Publishers Weekly:
Reynolds structures this novel as a memoir, with the title character announcing in a foreword that she wishes to share the story of her journey ""in the form of this devotional . . . in the hopes that some of what I experienced might help you with your own journey."" Myrtle's ""journey"" begins on the morning she is to have elective surgery to please her husband, Craig. Instead, she drives aimlessly away from her Virginia home with a stowaway, a local homeless man nicknamed ""Hellcat"" who had been sleeping in the back of her truck. She realizes she is running away from her unfulfilled life and the manipulative husband she refers to as ""a tyrant."" The travelers, with no set destination, find themselves inexplicably herded onto a bus full of old hippies that drives them to the Raven Creek Center for Spiritual Enlightenment. Here Myrtle learns about meditation, takes a body image workshop, and has a vision of a talking fox in her tent. When Myrtle's 10 days at Raven Creek are over and her companion decides to stay behind, she must decide whether to return home or keep moving, and how to incorporate her new life lessons into a happy existence. In Myrtle Cribb, novelist and professor of southern literature Reynolds gives us an endearing character, who describes herself aptly as ""the sort of person who has trouble with obvious things,"" and her story is the relatable experience of trying to find meaning in an ordinary life. (Oct.)
Reviewed on 10/05/2012
 

About this edition

• Publisher: Turner
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1618580132
• ISBN 13: 9781618580139
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 230