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Runnymede #3
Loose Lips
If you crossed Mitford, North Carolina, with Peyton Place, you might come up with Runnymede, Maryland, the most beguiling of Southern towns. In Loose Lips , Rita Mae Brown revisits Runnymede and the beloved characters introduced in Six of One and Bingo , serving up an exuberant portrayal of small-town sins and Southern mores, set against a backdrop of homefront life during World War II.
"I'm afraid life is passing me by," Louise told her sister.
"No, it's not," Juts said. "Life can't pass us by. We are life."
In the picturesque town of Runnymede, everyone knows everyone else's business, and the madcap antics of the battling Hunsenmeir sisters, Julia (Juts) and Louise, have kept the whole town agog ever since they were children. Now, in the fateful year of 1941, with America headed for war, the sisters are inching toward forty...and Juts is unwise enough to mention that unspeakable reality to her sister.
The result is a huge brawl that litters Cadwalder's soda fountain with four hundred dollars' worth of broken glass. To pay the debt, the sisters choose a surprisingly new direction. Suddenly they are joint owners of The Curl 'n' Twirl beauty salon, where discriminating ladies meet to be primped, permed, and pampered while dishing the town's latest dirt.
As Juts and Louise become Runnymede's most unlikely new career women, each faces her share of obstacles. Restless Juts can't shake her longing for a baby, while holier-than-thou Louise is fit to be tied over her teenage daughter's headlong rush toward scandal. As usual, the sisters rarely see eye to eye, and there are plenty of opinions to go around. Even the common bond of patriotic duty brings wildly unexpected results when the twosome joins the Civil Air Patrol, watching the night sky for German Stukas. But loose lips can sink even the closest relationships, and Juts and Louise are about to discover that some things are best left unsaid.
Spanning a decade in the lives of Louise, Juts, and their nearest and dearest, including the incomparable Celeste Chalfonte, Loose Lips is an unforgettable tale of love and loss and the way life can always throw you a curveball. By turns poignant and hilarious, it is deepened by Rita Mae Brown's unerring insight into the human heart.
"I'm afraid life is passing me by," Louise told her sister.
"No, it's not," Juts said. "Life can't pass us by. We are life."
In the picturesque town of Runnymede, everyone knows everyone else's business, and the madcap antics of the battling Hunsenmeir sisters, Julia (Juts) and Louise, have kept the whole town agog ever since they were children. Now, in the fateful year of 1941, with America headed for war, the sisters are inching toward forty...and Juts is unwise enough to mention that unspeakable reality to her sister.
The result is a huge brawl that litters Cadwalder's soda fountain with four hundred dollars' worth of broken glass. To pay the debt, the sisters choose a surprisingly new direction. Suddenly they are joint owners of The Curl 'n' Twirl beauty salon, where discriminating ladies meet to be primped, permed, and pampered while dishing the town's latest dirt.
As Juts and Louise become Runnymede's most unlikely new career women, each faces her share of obstacles. Restless Juts can't shake her longing for a baby, while holier-than-thou Louise is fit to be tied over her teenage daughter's headlong rush toward scandal. As usual, the sisters rarely see eye to eye, and there are plenty of opinions to go around. Even the common bond of patriotic duty brings wildly unexpected results when the twosome joins the Civil Air Patrol, watching the night sky for German Stukas. But loose lips can sink even the closest relationships, and Juts and Louise are about to discover that some things are best left unsaid.
Spanning a decade in the lives of Louise, Juts, and their nearest and dearest, including the incomparable Celeste Chalfonte, Loose Lips is an unforgettable tale of love and loss and the way life can always throw you a curveball. By turns poignant and hilarious, it is deepened by Rita Mae Brown's unerring insight into the human heart.
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
46 people are currently reading
494 people want to read
About the author
Rita Mae Brown
181 books2,243 followersRita Mae Brown is a prolific American writer, most known for her mysteries and other novels (Rubyfruit Jungle). She is also an Emmy-nominated screenwriter.
Brown was born illegitimate in Hanover, Pennsylvania. She was raised by her biological mother's female cousin and the cousin's husband in York, Pennsylvania and later in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Starting in the fall of 1962, Brown attended the University of Florida at Gainesville on a scholarship. In the spring of 1964, the administrators of the racially segregated university expelled her for participating in the civil rights movement. She subsequently enrolled at Broward Community College[3] with the hope of transferring eventually to a more tolerant four-year institution.
Between fall 1964 and 1969, she lived in New York City, sometimes homeless, while attending New York University[6] where she received a degree in Classics and English. Later,[when?] she received another degree in cinematography from the New York School of Visual Arts.[citation needed] Brown received a Ph.D. in literature from Union Institute & University in 1976 and holds a doctorate in political science from the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C.
Starting in 1973, Brown lived in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles. In 1977, she bought a farm in Charlottesville, Virginia where she still lives.[9] In 1982, a screenplay Brown wrote while living in Los Angeles, Sleepless Nights, was retitled The Slumber Party Massacre and given a limited release theatrically.
During Brown's spring 1964 semester at the University of Florida at Gainesville, she became active in the American Civil Rights Movement. Later in the 1960s, she participated in the anti-war movement, the feminist movement and the Gay Liberation movement.
Brown took an administrative position with the fledgling National Organization for Women, but resigned in January 1970 over Betty Friedan's anti-gay remarks and NOW's attempts to distance itself from lesbian organizations. She claims she played a leading role in the "Lavender Menace" zap of the Second Congress to Unite Women on May 1, 1970, which protested Friedan's remarks and the exclusion of lesbians from the women's movement.
In the early 1970s, she became a founding member of The Furies Collective, a lesbian feminist newspaper collective in Washington, DC, which held that heterosexuality was the root of all oppression.
Brown told Time magazine in 2008, "I don't believe in straight or gay. I really don't. I think we're all degrees of bisexual. There may be a few people on the extreme if it's a bell curve who really truly are gay or really truly are straight. Because nobody had ever said these things and used their real name, I suddenly became [in the late 1970s] the only lesbian in America."
Brown was born illegitimate in Hanover, Pennsylvania. She was raised by her biological mother's female cousin and the cousin's husband in York, Pennsylvania and later in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Starting in the fall of 1962, Brown attended the University of Florida at Gainesville on a scholarship. In the spring of 1964, the administrators of the racially segregated university expelled her for participating in the civil rights movement. She subsequently enrolled at Broward Community College[3] with the hope of transferring eventually to a more tolerant four-year institution.
Between fall 1964 and 1969, she lived in New York City, sometimes homeless, while attending New York University[6] where she received a degree in Classics and English. Later,[when?] she received another degree in cinematography from the New York School of Visual Arts.[citation needed] Brown received a Ph.D. in literature from Union Institute & University in 1976 and holds a doctorate in political science from the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C.
Starting in 1973, Brown lived in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles. In 1977, she bought a farm in Charlottesville, Virginia where she still lives.[9] In 1982, a screenplay Brown wrote while living in Los Angeles, Sleepless Nights, was retitled The Slumber Party Massacre and given a limited release theatrically.
During Brown's spring 1964 semester at the University of Florida at Gainesville, she became active in the American Civil Rights Movement. Later in the 1960s, she participated in the anti-war movement, the feminist movement and the Gay Liberation movement.
Brown took an administrative position with the fledgling National Organization for Women, but resigned in January 1970 over Betty Friedan's anti-gay remarks and NOW's attempts to distance itself from lesbian organizations. She claims she played a leading role in the "Lavender Menace" zap of the Second Congress to Unite Women on May 1, 1970, which protested Friedan's remarks and the exclusion of lesbians from the women's movement.
In the early 1970s, she became a founding member of The Furies Collective, a lesbian feminist newspaper collective in Washington, DC, which held that heterosexuality was the root of all oppression.
Brown told Time magazine in 2008, "I don't believe in straight or gay. I really don't. I think we're all degrees of bisexual. There may be a few people on the extreme if it's a bell curve who really truly are gay or really truly are straight. Because nobody had ever said these things and used their real name, I suddenly became [in the late 1970s] the only lesbian in America."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
January 15, 2009
This is allegedly one of the Six of One books, being a more detailed account of Juts, Wheezie, Nickel, etc. during the 1940s & 1950s/ However, it has several weaknesses. The primary one is that the quality of writing has deteriorated markedly since Six of One. The narrative is full of cliches and descriptions of weather, cars, and fashions obviously gathered from old newspapers. The conversation is forced and not consistent with the natural style and humor in Six of One. The plot devices are not consistent with character development, and the time table doesn't match either. It felt a lot like Ms. Brown forgot to reread Six of One before writing Loose Lips to check for "who" and "when" details.
Further, Ms. Brown obviously has no new ideas and has had to fall back on trying to elaborate on something she already wrote, thus capitalizing (or trying to) on previous success - much like her attempts to capitalize on Lillian Jackson Brain's success by trying to write "cat mysteries." Ms. Brown has sold out, on herself and on those of us who used to think that she had an original mind.
Further, Ms. Brown obviously has no new ideas and has had to fall back on trying to elaborate on something she already wrote, thus capitalizing (or trying to) on previous success - much like her attempts to capitalize on Lillian Jackson Brain's success by trying to write "cat mysteries." Ms. Brown has sold out, on herself and on those of us who used to think that she had an original mind.
July 3, 2011
The Book Report: Julia Ellen Hunsenmeir and her big sister Louise do WWII and motherhood and heading into middle age, with an excursion into grandmotherhood and infidelity. All of Runnymeade, Maryland-and-Pennsylvania, is agog, when they are not aghast, at the antics of the sisters. This book fills in some *huge* gaps in the storytelling of [Six of One], as I suspect Ms. Brown is out to tell the whole tale and not only the bits and patches from the first book. One side effect of this is that the characters sometimes shift...for example, Minta Mae Dexter was the leader of the Sisters of Gettysburg, where in this book it was Caesura Frothingham, previously known as the leader of the Daughters of the Confederacy. Fannie Jump Creighton, I am happy to report, is still busy seducing the young men of Runnymeade. SOME things must remain sacred. Oh, and Cora gets the surprise of her life in this book...plus we meet Chessy's, Jut's husband, mother...what a complete pill.
Readers of [Six of One] recall how Nickel, the stand-in for Ms. Brown, came to be...well, now we see a piece of her not-easy childhood with a crazy, vibrant, exciting, but utterly self-absorbed Julia Ellen for a momma. Some of the most moving moments in the book involve the mother/daughter mishegas these ladies endured.
My Review: I don't know if I'm unusual in this, but I feel very *proprietary* about characters and books in the series that I come to love. Since I adored the first book in this series, [Six of One], I came to all the others thinking There Is But One Way for things in this world to be. And then Brown, creatrix of the series, shifts things willy-nilly! How dare she! After all, these are *my* books!
Oh wait....
Still and all, I arrived at an explanation that satisfies me: Memories change when a person gets old. I mean, after all, those of us back here in our twenties can't imagine really what it's like to have a half-century of events stored in our brains! (Shut up. It's MY review.) And Brown published this the year she turned sixty, which we all know is somewhat older than God. So of course her elderbrain wandered and led her into little boo-boos. It's not her fault, I decided magnanimously, from my extreme distance in age. (Stop laughing!) And then I got into the swing of things, enjoying mightily the antics and the goins-on of the one-horse burg called Runnymeade. It was lovely to see Celeste again, and to know a little more about Rillma and her jam (figures big in this book)...well, it was good to see the old gang and I hope I can see them again. I suspect one reason Brown is writing the fill-in books is that her mother is now dead. She has to be, doesn't she? But now, after the generations before us have thinned out to few and far between, now's the time to get it down and keep it there. Before the curtain drops on our...I mean HER!...generation too.
If you have a romantic or sentimental bone in you, this series is for you. Order doesn't matter. Pick one up and laugh and cry along with the Humsenmeir sisters, it's a load of fun.
Readers of [Six of One] recall how Nickel, the stand-in for Ms. Brown, came to be...well, now we see a piece of her not-easy childhood with a crazy, vibrant, exciting, but utterly self-absorbed Julia Ellen for a momma. Some of the most moving moments in the book involve the mother/daughter mishegas these ladies endured.
My Review: I don't know if I'm unusual in this, but I feel very *proprietary* about characters and books in the series that I come to love. Since I adored the first book in this series, [Six of One], I came to all the others thinking There Is But One Way for things in this world to be. And then Brown, creatrix of the series, shifts things willy-nilly! How dare she! After all, these are *my* books!
Oh wait....
Still and all, I arrived at an explanation that satisfies me: Memories change when a person gets old. I mean, after all, those of us back here in our twenties can't imagine really what it's like to have a half-century of events stored in our brains! (Shut up. It's MY review.) And Brown published this the year she turned sixty, which we all know is somewhat older than God. So of course her elderbrain wandered and led her into little boo-boos. It's not her fault, I decided magnanimously, from my extreme distance in age. (Stop laughing!) And then I got into the swing of things, enjoying mightily the antics and the goins-on of the one-horse burg called Runnymeade. It was lovely to see Celeste again, and to know a little more about Rillma and her jam (figures big in this book)...well, it was good to see the old gang and I hope I can see them again. I suspect one reason Brown is writing the fill-in books is that her mother is now dead. She has to be, doesn't she? But now, after the generations before us have thinned out to few and far between, now's the time to get it down and keep it there. Before the curtain drops on our...I mean HER!...generation too.
If you have a romantic or sentimental bone in you, this series is for you. Order doesn't matter. Pick one up and laugh and cry along with the Humsenmeir sisters, it's a load of fun.
April 4, 2020
The Runnymede series is a fantastically funny, sometimes bittersweet, history of a town & one of its families. Juts & Louise are hilarious as sisters who love each other dearly, but can't see eye to eye on anything. If you loved the movie, Steel Magnolias, you will love this book. It's not the genre I usually read (mystery) but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway!
January 15, 2026
Yes girl give us… nothing. About 50 different characters and no plot, this was a struggle to get through.
March 24, 2018
When Rita Mae Brown wrote "Six of One" she created a masterpiece about the quirky town of Runnymede, 80 years in the lives of the battling Hunsemier sisters and the various strong women in their family and circle of friends. She also created a fun supporting cast of characters to surround them.
A decade later, she wrote a sequel which picked up the story of the daughter just a few years later. It was a moderately good romance but the main character who was so interesting in the first book has been watered down to a cookie cutter character. The only problem I had with the book was that it kept some of the same characters, but completely rewrote some of the history. Another decade later, the author revisited Runnymede for more detail during 2 decades out of the 8 in the original story. Once again she has completely changed some of the important plot points of the original. It seems as if the author didn't bother to re-read the original to refresh her memory. She also had some favorite characters do some rather hateful things.
This book was a major disappointment from one of my favorite authors.
A decade later, she wrote a sequel which picked up the story of the daughter just a few years later. It was a moderately good romance but the main character who was so interesting in the first book has been watered down to a cookie cutter character. The only problem I had with the book was that it kept some of the same characters, but completely rewrote some of the history. Another decade later, the author revisited Runnymede for more detail during 2 decades out of the 8 in the original story. Once again she has completely changed some of the important plot points of the original. It seems as if the author didn't bother to re-read the original to refresh her memory. She also had some favorite characters do some rather hateful things.
This book was a major disappointment from one of my favorite authors.
September 22, 2020
I have enjoyed Rita Mae Brown's writing. Previously I've read High Hearts which was set in the Civil War period and several of the Sneaky Pie Brown mystery books. Her writing ins humorous and fun - with Ms.'s Brown's tongue in cheek writing very amusing. I didn't realize that Loose Lips was number 3 of a series, so obviously I didn't know what had happened to these characters previously. I liked reading this because it seemed to be an accurate portrait of small town life - a one horse town where everybody knows everyone's business. Obviously there are plusses and minuses to this situation. Nothing too serious here - a lark to read - although there are some heavy matters after all it's set during WWII and how people's lives changed dramatically mainly because of the war. Women's lives changed also and their role in society. So we see how people and society's perception changed regarding adultery, adoption, infertility, discrimination and religious freedom. Apparently, the book is semi-autobiographical in that Nickel is actually a reflection of Ms. Brown and her upbringing.
Fun read. Will definitely read the previous two books next time I can fit them in.
Fun read. Will definitely read the previous two books next time I can fit them in.
March 5, 2025
If Ms. Brown used the same writing style in her previous two Runnymede books, I’m glad I haven’t read them. With the exception of a very few instances, I found this book to be silly and aggravating.
While I recognize that the characters are supposed to embody cliched Southern personalities, I honestly didn’t care for any of them. Louise and Julia (Wheezie and Juts) are simply annoying with their constant cycle of feuding and apologizing. Everyone seemed to have at least one nickname, and 2 first names (yeah, I know…Southern tradition) and frankly I found it a little confusing.
And lest someone think I have no idea about Southern life, although I was born north of the Mason Dixon line, I have spent more than 45 years in the Deep South, including Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina, and am very familiar with Southern “characters”, traditions, and habits.
There were several amusing incidents, but not enough, and in most cases, those incidents were used as fodder for future fights between Louise and Julia!
Not my cup of tea at all.
While I recognize that the characters are supposed to embody cliched Southern personalities, I honestly didn’t care for any of them. Louise and Julia (Wheezie and Juts) are simply annoying with their constant cycle of feuding and apologizing. Everyone seemed to have at least one nickname, and 2 first names (yeah, I know…Southern tradition) and frankly I found it a little confusing.
And lest someone think I have no idea about Southern life, although I was born north of the Mason Dixon line, I have spent more than 45 years in the Deep South, including Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina, and am very familiar with Southern “characters”, traditions, and habits.
There were several amusing incidents, but not enough, and in most cases, those incidents were used as fodder for future fights between Louise and Julia!
Not my cup of tea at all.
May 13, 2024
A Town on the Line
This series of books, about Runnymede, a small town straddling the Mason-Dixon line and the characters who live there, is one of my favorites to revisit. I have loved Rita Mae Brown since I discovered her writing in the 1980s. Crisp, gorgeous writing like a fine sunset and a deep belly laugh flows through everything she writes, from murder mysteries from the animals' perspectives to explorations of human behavior through old traditions, new ways of approaching age old questions, and a sense of humor threading through it all..
Runnemede has it all, and as we see the town through the eyes of successive generations we learn that familiarity does not equal boredom, new fangled is what you make of it, and that people are what give meaning to events.
I don't know how many times I've read these books; I just hope it isn't the last.
This series of books, about Runnymede, a small town straddling the Mason-Dixon line and the characters who live there, is one of my favorites to revisit. I have loved Rita Mae Brown since I discovered her writing in the 1980s. Crisp, gorgeous writing like a fine sunset and a deep belly laugh flows through everything she writes, from murder mysteries from the animals' perspectives to explorations of human behavior through old traditions, new ways of approaching age old questions, and a sense of humor threading through it all..
Runnemede has it all, and as we see the town through the eyes of successive generations we learn that familiarity does not equal boredom, new fangled is what you make of it, and that people are what give meaning to events.
I don't know how many times I've read these books; I just hope it isn't the last.
July 23, 2024
3.5 stars. It's confusing that the timeline of this is BEFORE Book 2. And there is some overlap with Book 1. This one is ~1941-1952. But what bothered me most was the scene of the dog & cat running rampant thru the Easter service. It should've been hilarious, but the dog ate chocolate & the cat was cavorting amongst lilies, including getting covered in their pollen! In reality, they could've both died! Surely this fact should've been known by a pet-owning author in 1999, when this was written! I would argue she could've educated her readers about these dangers; but at the very least have them cause some chaos where it's safer for them!
February 25, 2018
A continuation of the sisters' story that brings you back to their young adult lives. This isn't over all a favorite series of mine, but it is readable because of the historical references. The other book had humor that kept you going. I'm not sure how many times they can bring you back to add more detail to the story without getting repetitive. I wish there had been more history in this version to make it more interesting.
December 13, 2018
Centered around the WWII years, this adorable historical novel explores the close bond of the Hunsenmeir sisters. It’s a heartwarming story by a writer best known for her mystery series. I’d encourage anyone with a love for historical fiction, small town fiction and stories that tug your heartstrings to pick up this 5-star read.
October 2, 2017
This is the first book that I read in the series about a small town called Runnymeade and the how the characters living there interact. The time period is just before, during and after WWll. I might want to read the prior stories.
March 15, 2025
I love this author. She's great. So funny. The conflicts are a little dated and the insults definitely show the prejudices of that time period! Endearing yet infuriating characters. I'll look for more in the series to enjoy
March 9, 2014
Satire Anomaly
Rita Mae Brown has a history of being an activist, a feminist, and a lesbian, attributes of which she inputs a lot into her writing. In Loose Lips, published by Random House Publishing, and written in 1999, Rita Mae Brown chronicles middle age life for two sisters, in small town Maryland. The novel is set in the early forties and continues on into the late fifties. Brown conveys, satirically, through Julia (Juts) and Louise (Wheezie), the evolution of women’s roles, as well as life on the home front during WWII.
The story starts off with disaster for the sisters. Juts makes fun of Wheezie’s approaching forty, and it results in a fight that breaks the window of a local store. In order to make money, and to keep their husbands from having to work extra, the two sisters open up a hair shop. The hair shop becomes quite popular and soon becomes gossip central. Juts and her husband struggle with trying to have a baby, eventually adopting the daughter of a local unwed mother. All the while, Wheezie makes fun of Juts for not being a mother, and then later for not being a “real” mother, “Well, you didn’t’ carry the baby. It’s different when they grow inside you” (Brown 254). Wheezie plays the typical housewife of her time period, religious, stern, and demanding. Juts is the more playful one, who is okay with bending the rules. Juts experience a mini crisis of sorts when she catches her husband cheating one night, while she and Louise are on “guard duty” watching for enemy planes (Brown 234). Juts is only able to snap out of it when she adopts the baby, of an unwed runaway mother that used to live in town. Her husband, Chester, really steps up to the plate as a father as well, and is able to reignite the bond between husband and wife. Meanwhile, the reader gets to watch how a small town deals with World War II when sending off their boys to war. The town also forms a group of people to help the war from town, by preparing for emergencies and watching out for enemy planes. Nickel, Juts’s daughter, takes after her by being unafraid to step over the lines that define her gender, much to the chagrin of Wheezie.
Brown’s novel shows how women’s roles change over the course of World War II and even through Nickel, sets the course for the sixties as well. Brown provides her own answer to English and Enrenreich “Woman Question”, of which what are women’s roles as society changes? (7).Wheezie would dictate the role as home maker, wife, and mother primarily. However, she is forced to step out of this role because of the damage to the store’s window that she and Juts have to pay for. Juts allows for a little variation than Wheezie because she’s a little more open minded, her role being more flexible however similar. Nickel is really when the reader sees a change in not only Juts’s point of view role wise, but Chester’s viewpoint becomes clear. They both desire to see Nickel happy, and that includes appeasing her unconventional tastes of wearing pants and doing “boy” things, like racing in the derby. Nickel causes Juts to question a why women are inhibited so much in “male things”. Chester is completely open to allowing his daughter to pursue her happiness in any shape or fashion, for him, a woman’s role has not set standard. With Juts being tolerant of Nickel’s behavior, Wheezie herself becomes more intolerable and inflexible with what women are supposed to and how they are supposed to act, her own daughters the model to be measured by.
Brown delivers Juts and Wheezie’s growth quite hilariously while being satirical throughout the entire novel. Juts and Wheezie are the main characters and over exaggerated, and who are always fighting over little things, never mind the huge things that are happening all around them. The ability with which Brown is able to deliver the humor, while having serious undertones is adept, providing many laugh out loud moments. The sister dynamic only enhances the humor, while the whole town is privy to the inside of their lives. Brown utilizes heavy symbolism throughout the novel to show the impact of war on a community as well as comic relief through the sisters. Brown also uses repetition, and a bit of irony with the phrase “loose lips”, a play on the idea that one might accidentally give the enemy information just by talking nonchalantly. It’s no small thing that Brown also chooses this as the title. Juts and Wheezie are oblivious to the world around them and use the idiom quite frequently to dissuade each other from telling their secrets.
Brown cleverly pokes fun at traditional roles, and small town communities by using Julia and Louise as the main source of ideology. Louise is horribly pious and almost cruel to Julia for her inability to be a mother, or for not having a child by blood. Julia responds childishly in the only way she knows how, by making fun of Louise’s impending age. Neither of the women seemed focused on the war, but are instead stuck in the small town obsession of gossip. The book seems to be a lesson on the never-ending circle that can consume life if one becomes too stuck on gossip, “loose lips sink ships”.
Rita Mae Brown has a history of being an activist, a feminist, and a lesbian, attributes of which she inputs a lot into her writing. In Loose Lips, published by Random House Publishing, and written in 1999, Rita Mae Brown chronicles middle age life for two sisters, in small town Maryland. The novel is set in the early forties and continues on into the late fifties. Brown conveys, satirically, through Julia (Juts) and Louise (Wheezie), the evolution of women’s roles, as well as life on the home front during WWII.
The story starts off with disaster for the sisters. Juts makes fun of Wheezie’s approaching forty, and it results in a fight that breaks the window of a local store. In order to make money, and to keep their husbands from having to work extra, the two sisters open up a hair shop. The hair shop becomes quite popular and soon becomes gossip central. Juts and her husband struggle with trying to have a baby, eventually adopting the daughter of a local unwed mother. All the while, Wheezie makes fun of Juts for not being a mother, and then later for not being a “real” mother, “Well, you didn’t’ carry the baby. It’s different when they grow inside you” (Brown 254). Wheezie plays the typical housewife of her time period, religious, stern, and demanding. Juts is the more playful one, who is okay with bending the rules. Juts experience a mini crisis of sorts when she catches her husband cheating one night, while she and Louise are on “guard duty” watching for enemy planes (Brown 234). Juts is only able to snap out of it when she adopts the baby, of an unwed runaway mother that used to live in town. Her husband, Chester, really steps up to the plate as a father as well, and is able to reignite the bond between husband and wife. Meanwhile, the reader gets to watch how a small town deals with World War II when sending off their boys to war. The town also forms a group of people to help the war from town, by preparing for emergencies and watching out for enemy planes. Nickel, Juts’s daughter, takes after her by being unafraid to step over the lines that define her gender, much to the chagrin of Wheezie.
Brown’s novel shows how women’s roles change over the course of World War II and even through Nickel, sets the course for the sixties as well. Brown provides her own answer to English and Enrenreich “Woman Question”, of which what are women’s roles as society changes? (7).Wheezie would dictate the role as home maker, wife, and mother primarily. However, she is forced to step out of this role because of the damage to the store’s window that she and Juts have to pay for. Juts allows for a little variation than Wheezie because she’s a little more open minded, her role being more flexible however similar. Nickel is really when the reader sees a change in not only Juts’s point of view role wise, but Chester’s viewpoint becomes clear. They both desire to see Nickel happy, and that includes appeasing her unconventional tastes of wearing pants and doing “boy” things, like racing in the derby. Nickel causes Juts to question a why women are inhibited so much in “male things”. Chester is completely open to allowing his daughter to pursue her happiness in any shape or fashion, for him, a woman’s role has not set standard. With Juts being tolerant of Nickel’s behavior, Wheezie herself becomes more intolerable and inflexible with what women are supposed to and how they are supposed to act, her own daughters the model to be measured by.
Brown delivers Juts and Wheezie’s growth quite hilariously while being satirical throughout the entire novel. Juts and Wheezie are the main characters and over exaggerated, and who are always fighting over little things, never mind the huge things that are happening all around them. The ability with which Brown is able to deliver the humor, while having serious undertones is adept, providing many laugh out loud moments. The sister dynamic only enhances the humor, while the whole town is privy to the inside of their lives. Brown utilizes heavy symbolism throughout the novel to show the impact of war on a community as well as comic relief through the sisters. Brown also uses repetition, and a bit of irony with the phrase “loose lips”, a play on the idea that one might accidentally give the enemy information just by talking nonchalantly. It’s no small thing that Brown also chooses this as the title. Juts and Wheezie are oblivious to the world around them and use the idiom quite frequently to dissuade each other from telling their secrets.
Brown cleverly pokes fun at traditional roles, and small town communities by using Julia and Louise as the main source of ideology. Louise is horribly pious and almost cruel to Julia for her inability to be a mother, or for not having a child by blood. Julia responds childishly in the only way she knows how, by making fun of Louise’s impending age. Neither of the women seemed focused on the war, but are instead stuck in the small town obsession of gossip. The book seems to be a lesson on the never-ending circle that can consume life if one becomes too stuck on gossip, “loose lips sink ships”.
January 7, 2019
I love this series, the town, the characters, etc.
July 4, 2019
BORRRING!
Constant bickering between the 2 sisters is a real turn off.
Constant bickering between the 2 sisters is a real turn off.
March 7, 2022
A little hard to get and stay into the first half, but pretty good read.
Definitely not the same tone as the wonderful Mitford series.
Definitely not the same tone as the wonderful Mitford series.
June 22, 2023
Lots of characters and all have nicknames, so it seems like twice as many!
January 19, 2024
Bijnaaaa even mooi als Koningin van Amerika en Bingo!!! Rita Mae Brown is een genie!
July 15, 2024
I only got 25 pages in and had to stop...couldn't stand the inane bickering. It's rare for me to quit this early in a book.
May 10, 2010
I was really disappointed in this book, as Six of One and Bingo are both among my very favorite books. This felt like a half-hearted attempt at adding to a very successful duo of books with resoundingly terrible results. The writing style was not nearly up to par (sadly, I personally feel that Ms. Brown's writing has headed South of late), and there were glaring inconsistencies in the plot and simple details, such as Nickel's middle name(!?!). Why change such basic and mostly meaningless details after they have been established in earlier works? It made me think that this book was very hastily written and published as an attempt to win back readers who loved Six of One and Bingo along with many of her earlier works (fans such as myself), but (again, like myself) have a hard time with the all too cutesy series she is now "co-authoring" with her cat. It makes me sad... many of Ms. Brown's books had a fairly strong impact on me, despite the fact that she tends to write about the same (albeit differently named) main characters who are clearly not-so-thinly-veiled versions of the author herself. That, I can get past, and even enjoy. The inconsistencies in this book, I cannot. I truly finished this book wondering why she bothered.
January 28, 2009
Loose Lips is billed as "A Novel of Love and Espionage". The main character is Selena Keller who on a whim submits her resume to the CIA.
From there Loose Lips details what a trainee goes through to become a part of the CIA, ultimately taking on a job that will require you to convince another human being to commit treason.
There are a lot of secondary in the book, other trainees. Some we get to know and some are little more than background just to let us know Selena isn't alone.
While in training she meets Stan and a friendship blossoms, eventually turning into more.
I found the ending of the book not necessarily confusing, but it left me feeling a little let down. I understand that life isn't always tied up in a neat little bow, but I was curious to know details that I felt investing my time in the book I should have gotten.
The writing was witty and I liked Selena, which made me want to know who was responsible for what ultimately happens to her.
Not a great book, not a bad book. The premise was strong and it captured my attention almost immediately. Just the ending could have been stronger.
From there Loose Lips details what a trainee goes through to become a part of the CIA, ultimately taking on a job that will require you to convince another human being to commit treason.
There are a lot of secondary in the book, other trainees. Some we get to know and some are little more than background just to let us know Selena isn't alone.
While in training she meets Stan and a friendship blossoms, eventually turning into more.
I found the ending of the book not necessarily confusing, but it left me feeling a little let down. I understand that life isn't always tied up in a neat little bow, but I was curious to know details that I felt investing my time in the book I should have gotten.
The writing was witty and I liked Selena, which made me want to know who was responsible for what ultimately happens to her.
Not a great book, not a bad book. The premise was strong and it captured my attention almost immediately. Just the ending could have been stronger.
October 21, 2008
I read this book for a book group and, having never read the other books in the trilogy, was unfamiliar with any of the backstories for the characters. Perhaps this explains why after the first 40 or 50 pages I was ready to put the book down and just skip the book group meeting. I was utterly bored by the antics of the sisters, the two main characters, in the beginning of the book.
Lucky for me, the story eventually expanded to include all of the goings-on and other people in the sisters' lives and those things were fairly interesting. I mean, teen pregnancy, infidelity, and motherhood are fascinating topics, no? And surprisingly, after the trite, uninteresting opening, Brown provides some good insights into said topics. Still, I'll never read the book again, won't backtrack to the other books in the trilogy, and can't honestly recommend this book to anyone else.
Lucky for me, the story eventually expanded to include all of the goings-on and other people in the sisters' lives and those things were fairly interesting. I mean, teen pregnancy, infidelity, and motherhood are fascinating topics, no? And surprisingly, after the trite, uninteresting opening, Brown provides some good insights into said topics. Still, I'll never read the book again, won't backtrack to the other books in the trilogy, and can't honestly recommend this book to anyone else.
May 13, 2009
I usually love Rita Mae Brown's books. I plowed through this one as I am almost incapable of not finishing a book even if I am not enjoying it. Its set in small town America during the ten yrs or so from Pearl Harbor to early 50s. Its not really a homefront novel, or a war time novel. Its the story of a couple of sisters and their lives, loves and going on in the town. I think what really frustrated me was the number of discussions of being a mother and if you adopted where you a real Mother. Over and over with the two sisters quarreling. In the end I think I know what Brown thinks but then again maybe I don't. And the ridiculous fights, food fights, fights in local stores and in church...silly especially when it was 2 grown women.
On the plus side there is Brown's usual adept dialogue and entertaining animals.
On the plus side there is Brown's usual adept dialogue and entertaining animals.
November 30, 2009
Sometimes revisiting a place is not a good idea. As they say, you can't go home again. When I was in high school, I thought that Rita Mae Brown was a wonderful author. Six of One was one of my favorites and I gave away copies to friends. I had also enjoyed Rubyfruit Jungle and more recently I have had fun reading the Sneaky Pie mysteries.
So I had high hopes for Loose Lips. I can't say I am totally disappointed with this book, but I felt like I was slogging through a one note book. The Hunsenmeir sisters have never grown up. Their antics have entertained Runnymeade for years and so they have not had to change. This novel is humorous in parts, but mostly it is too immature for me. Next time Rita Mae Brown revisits Runnymeade, I won't be along for the ride.
So I had high hopes for Loose Lips. I can't say I am totally disappointed with this book, but I felt like I was slogging through a one note book. The Hunsenmeir sisters have never grown up. Their antics have entertained Runnymeade for years and so they have not had to change. This novel is humorous in parts, but mostly it is too immature for me. Next time Rita Mae Brown revisits Runnymeade, I won't be along for the ride.
June 28, 2014
Rita Mae Brown attempts the Jan Karon/Fannie Flagg inspiration, but misses the mark by a long shot. This book, the third in the series, tells meandering incidents of two 40-year old sisters in the 40's and 50's who behave as if they are still 3 years old. They are shallow, bicker constantly, are mean to each other and to their children. There is nothing appealing or endearing about either one. Perhaps the intention is to show that Mitford is a pipe dream and this is how people really are -- petty and spiteful. Probably true, but I'd rather believe in Mitford.
September 3, 2007
If you loved Six of One, you might not want to read Loose Lips. There are lots of amusing shenanigans by Weezie and Juts as they explore parenthood, but it tarnished my memory of them. Juts burns her daughter with a cigarette and drives her husband into the arms of a woman who doesn't incessantly nag him. That isn't the life I'd imagined for her in Six of One! This attempt lacks heart or something. Pass.
August 28, 2017
A meandering story. For me, the main attraction of this story is the time period in which it is set. The main character is a contemporary of my paternal grandmother. She died when I was only 5, so I felt like the details of day to day life presented in this book gave me a glimpse of what her life may have been like (minus all the weird stuff about living in the south).
July 26, 2015
I still enjoyed the sisters going at each other, but it did get tiresome. I may revisit this book later. It was set in the 40's and 50's, which is always an interesting time frame. I really just wanted to visit all the Runnymede characters again. I liked the book, but it is not in the same league as Six of One. There is no substituting for the first time.
February 7, 2013
This is the 3rd book in the Runnymede series about the Hunsenmeir sisters, but chronologically, it should be number 2 because it deals with the sisters and the town during the World War II period. I liked the book, but I think it was the weakest of the trilogy.
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