Gods in Alabama - Hardcover

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AUTHORBIO: JOSHILYN JACKSON lives with her husband and children outside of Atlanta, where she is currently at work on her next novel.

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Arlene Fleet, the refreshingly imperfect heroine of Jackson's frank, appealing debut, launches her story with a list of the title's deities: "high school quarterbacks, trucks, big tits, and also Jesus." The first god, also a date rapist by the name of Jim Beverly, she left dead in her hometown of Possett, Ala., but the last she embraces wholeheartedly when high school graduation allows her to flee the South, the murder and her slutty reputation for a new life in Chicago. Upon leaving home, Arlene makes a bargain with God, promising to forgo sex, lies and a return home if he keeps Jim's body hidden. After nine years in Chicago as a truth-telling celibate, an unexpected visitor from home (in search of Jim Beverly) leads her to believe that God is slipping on his end of the deal. As Arlene heads for the Deep South with her African-American boyfriend, Burr, in tow, her secrets unfold in unsurprising but satisfying flashbacks. Jackson brings levity to familiar themes with a spirited take on the clichés of redneck Southern living: the Wal-Mart culture, the subtle and overt racism and the indignant religion. The novel concludes with a final, dramatic disclosure, though the payoff isn't the plot twist but rather Jackson's genuine affection for the people and places of Dixie.
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Critics agree that Jackson has scored big in her first outing, a comic novel that combines salty blue-collar humor with an engaging first-person voice. Jackson navigates through what could have become clichés of Southern types and instead offers memorable, often humorous characters and situations that keep the story humming along. The author also has a few surprises up her sleeve when it comes to plot and character, including moral ambiguity. Don’t expect Jackson’s debut novel to end like the usual "coming home" story or mistake it for just another "chick-lit" offering.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

Arlene Fleet likes to make deals with God and play road-trip games. In this absorbing first novel, deals and games guide all the characters' actions, but the reader won't know the real deal or the name of the game until the last page. Upon leaving her podunk hometown in Alabama, Arlene makes a deal with the Lord involving no lying, no fornicating, and no return trip as long as he keeps the body of high-school quarterback Jim Beverly hidden. When the Almighty drops his end of the bargain, Arlene heads back to Possett, determined to lie about her sexual relationship with her African American fiance, Burr, to her steel-magnolia aunt, Florence. With the threat of her past crime coming to light, Arlene understands she must now protect the family that years ago took in Arlene and her recently widowed, mentally disturbed mother. Cleverly disguised as a leisurely paced southern novel, this debut rockets to the end, even as the plot turns back on itself, surprising characters and readers alike. Book clubs will enjoy this saucy tale, as will fans of southern fiction with a twist. Kaite Mediatore
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