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My Summer of Southern Discomfort
Today is Monday. The calls do not come as before. Weeks elapse between them, and when I answer the phone there is no overlap of voices, only my mother's. She spends much of the conversation avoiding mention of the pink elephant trumpeting in the middle of the room. The pink elephant would be my defection to Georgia. When I telephoned with the news of my imminent relocation my father asked, "Georgia, as in the Republic of Georgia by the Black Sea, or Georgia as in the Peach State?" He hoped I meant the former because that Georgia promised unique opportunities to advance the democratic cause of justice. What could Georgia, former land of the Confederacy, offer? Convicting arsonists and thieves in Macon, Georgia, was never Harvard Law grad Natalie Goldberg's dream. The pay is abysmal, the work is exhausting, and the humidity is hell for a woman with curly hair. But when a steamy romance with her high-powered New York boss went bad, Natalie jumped at the first job offered, packed her bags, and headed south. Natalie's leftist Yankee background brands her a conspicuous outsider in this insular community. Her father, a famous civil rights lawyer, refuses to accept her career change—or talk to her. Her best friend begs her to come back home, and Natalie keeps thinking she sees her former lover everywhere. But Natalie's not completely alone. There are a garden-obsessed neighbor, a former beauty queen–turned–defense attorney, and a handsome colleague who has a nervous tic whenever she gets near. And then there's a capital case that has her eating antacids by the truckload. Yep, it's going to be one heckuva long, hot summer. . . .
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
9 people are currently reading
257 people want to read
About the author
Stephanie Gayle
6 books136 followersStephanie Gayle is the author of Idyll Threats, Idyll Fears, and Idyll Hands (Seventh Street Books) and My Summer of Southern Discomfort (William Morrow.) She's been twice nominated for a Pushcart prize for her short fiction, which has appeared in Kenyon Review Online, Potomac Review, and Minnetonka Review. She created the popular reading series, Craft on Draft, in Boston.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
October 27, 2018
This book was dull. I know that sounds mean and I'm not trying to be. I'm simply being honest. I was bored -- nothing of much circumstance happens. I kept wondering why this book was written and what the point was. As far as the writing itself it was more than adequate therefore I'm giving it three stars and chalking it up to the fact the story just didn't resonate with me.
3*/ 2.95*
3*/ 2.95*
July 8, 2011
What an strange little book. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop--for some kind of action to start--but it never did. It is just the musings of a displaced Yankee trying to adjust to life in the South. It was oddly calming.
I did appreciated how the author managed to hit on some of the Southern traits that are weird to outsiders without making them seem cartoonish or over-the-top. Very understated, a nice break from the wacky characters and outlandish situations in the string of Southern books I've been reading.
I did appreciated how the author managed to hit on some of the Southern traits that are weird to outsiders without making them seem cartoonish or over-the-top. Very understated, a nice break from the wacky characters and outlandish situations in the string of Southern books I've been reading.
December 7, 2007
A love affair gone bad sent Natalie from NYC and corporate law to Macon Georgia and the public prosecutor's office. This slim volume follows her as she makes the transition and deals with the sometimes grim realities of her new job.
As another reviewer said, it would have been nice to have skewered the NYC ex, but then, life doesn't tend to be like that. The dangling ends lend verisimilitude to this charming story.
I will be watching for more of her books.
As another reviewer said, it would have been nice to have skewered the NYC ex, but then, life doesn't tend to be like that. The dangling ends lend verisimilitude to this charming story.
I will be watching for more of her books.
June 2, 2020
Stephanie Gayle's first novel, "My Summer of Southern Discomfort," was a disappointment to one who had found her mystery series about a gay police chief in a New England village called Idyll more compelling. Nothing much happens in this novel until the very end, and although the author is conscientious about piling on details about people and places, the details are mostly boring. (Our protagonist keeps files for greeting cards, doesn't like to pull her covers all the way up, is angry at herself when she realizes she wore the comfy shoes from her office closet home yesterday, has a squeaky wheel on her grocery cart).
This light beach read is about a young lawyer who flees a corporate firm in New York City, where she fell for a married partner, and lands quixotically in Macon, Georgia's prosecutor's office, a fish out of water. Over the course of the novel, she changes her mind about the work there, the town, and the people, and finds a better guy.
This light beach read is about a young lawyer who flees a corporate firm in New York City, where she fell for a married partner, and lands quixotically in Macon, Georgia's prosecutor's office, a fish out of water. Over the course of the novel, she changes her mind about the work there, the town, and the people, and finds a better guy.
July 4, 2019
I liked that this book took place in Macon, GA. Since I am a native Georgian, I was familiar with many of the places mentioned. There wasn't much substance to this story. I only picked it up because of the setting, and I am not sure that is enough for me to recommend it to others.
September 7, 2011
I have mixed feelings about this book. At first I didn't like it, but I have to say that it slowly got better as the book went along. I do feel like that I've read the middle of a story...I feel like I'd like to read the beginning and the end with a little less patronizing of the southern culture.
February 12, 2016
I really enjoyed this book. I am from the South and hearing a Northerner's description of life here versus there was funny. I know this is a work of fiction and did hit the cliche button quite a bit! But it was definitely a good book.
July 28, 2010
I enjoyed the story once the author stopped trying to be cute. Her "voice" was inconsistent, but generally good. The story did pick up about halfway through.
July 21, 2011
Just couldn't get into the story. I liked the cover art better than the book.
July 25, 2011
A nice little book that was badly covered and marketed. Much more a coming-of-age and fish-out-of-water story than the chick-lis you would expect from the cover. SLow-moving and internally focused.
May 29, 2011
potential to be quite good but minimal substance.
January 26, 2022
This is a compelling read. The protagonist is a young woman lawyer, a refugee in Macon, Georgia from a major New York law firm where neither her career or her first love affair panned out. In Macon, she finds healing, a job she comes to feel passionate about, and new, loyal friends. Her parents have to get used to what they see as a sell-out. She has to get used to southern cooking, politeness and outdated notions of a woman's place. The move she thought of as running away turns out to be the start of something good, maybe even something wonderful.
July 12, 2017
I don't get why everyone disliked this book. I thought it was pretty good. It wasn't your usual chick lit romance-type book, it more revolved around a court case (which is probably why I liked it). The other reason I liked it so much was the characters and the way they developed. And, good info on the Georgia legal system.
July 2, 2017
Rambling , kept waiting for a twist - never happened
July 8, 2017
Interesting information about the legal system in Georgia and landmarks in Macon.
October 11, 2018
I saw this book recommended in a magazine. I was not impressed. I just kept reading to find something interesting or exciting, only to be disappointed.
July 3, 2019
It was ok. Some funny moments. It was hard to feel compassion for the main character, though. Just couldn’t identify.
July 7, 2019
I love this story. This was my second time to read this book.
August 16, 2020
Vapid and anticlimactic.
Read
August 26, 2020Terrible. 0 stars. Racist. Do not read.
January 22, 2021
A strange book but an easy read. Just really didn’t have a plot.
Read
September 4, 2022Dnf. Slow and uneventful.
September 8, 2022
I enjoyed it
July 21, 2023
Liked it enough to finish it, but I'm not looking for any more like it.
February 2, 2025
I enjoyed this book. Despite reading many not so promising reviews I found this book was just the right pace for me right now. It did start out a bit slow but that's life sometimes.
October 23, 2025
Just a fun, short read. I really enjoyed it! Not a classic but certainly enjoyable!
September 22, 2010
I bought this book for the worst reason - the cover. I was perusing the bargain section at Barnes and Noble and this one stood out. I liked the cover - the cute little sundress, the sandals and the title. It was only $4.95, minus $0.49 cents with my membership discount.
This book has a slow beginning, a slow middle and a slow end.
Natalie Goldberg moved to Macon, Georgia, after a failed romance left her jobless in NYC. She is the daughter of a famous civil rights attorney and is staunchly opposed to the death penalty. Her job working in criminal law causes turmoil in her mind and among her family. That is, according to the author, because you don't feel much of the turmoil. You don't feel much of anything. Nothing is developed in this book. Natalie doesn't develop. The other characters don't develop. The plot doesn't develop. There's no real climax. I understand that it's meant to be a light beach read, but it doesn't give you that need to turn the page to see what happens next. I read the whole thing to be stubborn. I don't like to start books and never finish them.
There are a few moments in the book where you think, ok, this is it. There is going to be some action. A colleague enlists her help in getting his sister out of an abusive situation. I thought maybe this would be a major plot line and would involve her talking to the sister and dodging some bullets. Nope. Natalie just breezes into this lady's house, though they don't know each other, spouts of some domestic violence statistics that she got from Google or Law and Order:SVU and then the woman just agrees to pack up right at that moment and leave the house with her kids, but without the dog. Okay...not realistic, but I thought maybe there would be a story involving the husband. Nope, this part of the story is briefly alluded to in the book, sister is okay, hubby is mad and killed the dog and here is a necklace to thank you. Said colleague, Carl, seems to like Natalie and you expect a romance storyline there. Not really. You get an epiphany from her in the last couple of pages of the book, but it all falls flat.
The book began with Natalie reporting a death threat to the sherrif's office. Oooooooh, death threats. This will be suspenseful, right? Nope. The subject of death threats is never explored and is dropped by the third page.
Ok, so there is a big trial and the suspect will get sentenced to the death penalty if found guilty. This is it. This is the big moment of the book, right? Nope, predictable and easy. Every now and then Natalie whines that she doesn't like the death penalty, but we don't really "go there" with her. There is some strife with her parents over her position at the law firm, but the author doesn't delve into it and then wraps it up in a pretty bow at the end of the story.
You don't get much of Southern comfort or the culture shock of coming from the Northeast to Georgia. She mentions funny Southern words now and then and a few landmarks, but this book could really be set anywhere else and you wouldn't notice a difference. There is no sense of culture. Natalie goes to a bar with a friend and learns about zydeco dancing, but the author seemed off the mark in the description. She also likes to drop, "I'm a Jew" or "that guy is black" now and then. I don't know if the author is trying to make a statement or anything, but she mentions those things in weird ways. Like she's trying to make it an issue.
It's a book that lack a lot - interest, development, personality. None of the characters seem very likable. They are not offensive, you just don't care for them either way. The story is dry, flat and predictable. Oh, and another peeve. The author really enjoyed adding a ton of flourish to each sentence. She could never just say, "I walked across the street to the deli." No, it would be, "I lazily yet hastily walked with a limp and a skip across the black, black like an orchid in the night, street with cars beeping their cacophony of horny symphony at me as I headed towards the glass-encrusted door of the mellow delicatessen." Every sentence needed embellishment. That's fine now and then, but when you include it on every page it becomes pretentious.
There is a reason that such a new book went into the Bargain Bin.
This book has a slow beginning, a slow middle and a slow end.
Natalie Goldberg moved to Macon, Georgia, after a failed romance left her jobless in NYC. She is the daughter of a famous civil rights attorney and is staunchly opposed to the death penalty. Her job working in criminal law causes turmoil in her mind and among her family. That is, according to the author, because you don't feel much of the turmoil. You don't feel much of anything. Nothing is developed in this book. Natalie doesn't develop. The other characters don't develop. The plot doesn't develop. There's no real climax. I understand that it's meant to be a light beach read, but it doesn't give you that need to turn the page to see what happens next. I read the whole thing to be stubborn. I don't like to start books and never finish them.
There are a few moments in the book where you think, ok, this is it. There is going to be some action. A colleague enlists her help in getting his sister out of an abusive situation. I thought maybe this would be a major plot line and would involve her talking to the sister and dodging some bullets. Nope. Natalie just breezes into this lady's house, though they don't know each other, spouts of some domestic violence statistics that she got from Google or Law and Order:SVU and then the woman just agrees to pack up right at that moment and leave the house with her kids, but without the dog. Okay...not realistic, but I thought maybe there would be a story involving the husband. Nope, this part of the story is briefly alluded to in the book, sister is okay, hubby is mad and killed the dog and here is a necklace to thank you. Said colleague, Carl, seems to like Natalie and you expect a romance storyline there. Not really. You get an epiphany from her in the last couple of pages of the book, but it all falls flat.
The book began with Natalie reporting a death threat to the sherrif's office. Oooooooh, death threats. This will be suspenseful, right? Nope. The subject of death threats is never explored and is dropped by the third page.
Ok, so there is a big trial and the suspect will get sentenced to the death penalty if found guilty. This is it. This is the big moment of the book, right? Nope, predictable and easy. Every now and then Natalie whines that she doesn't like the death penalty, but we don't really "go there" with her. There is some strife with her parents over her position at the law firm, but the author doesn't delve into it and then wraps it up in a pretty bow at the end of the story.
You don't get much of Southern comfort or the culture shock of coming from the Northeast to Georgia. She mentions funny Southern words now and then and a few landmarks, but this book could really be set anywhere else and you wouldn't notice a difference. There is no sense of culture. Natalie goes to a bar with a friend and learns about zydeco dancing, but the author seemed off the mark in the description. She also likes to drop, "I'm a Jew" or "that guy is black" now and then. I don't know if the author is trying to make a statement or anything, but she mentions those things in weird ways. Like she's trying to make it an issue.
It's a book that lack a lot - interest, development, personality. None of the characters seem very likable. They are not offensive, you just don't care for them either way. The story is dry, flat and predictable. Oh, and another peeve. The author really enjoyed adding a ton of flourish to each sentence. She could never just say, "I walked across the street to the deli." No, it would be, "I lazily yet hastily walked with a limp and a skip across the black, black like an orchid in the night, street with cars beeping their cacophony of horny symphony at me as I headed towards the glass-encrusted door of the mellow delicatessen." Every sentence needed embellishment. That's fine now and then, but when you include it on every page it becomes pretentious.
There is a reason that such a new book went into the Bargain Bin.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 17, 2013
My Summer of Southern Discomfort by Stephanie Gayle follows a New York lawyer’s uncomfortable move to a small southern town. Natalie intended all her life to follow in the footsteps of her father, a famous civil right’s lawyer. She wants to fight the good fight for justice. Natalie was on track to reach all her dreams, hiring on with a prestigious New York law firm after graduating from Harvard. She did not plan on having an affair with a married partner in the firm, falling in love, or taking the blame when he makes a costly error. With her career in tatters Natalie heads south, where a small Georgia town is delighted to hire a Harvard educated prosecutor and not about to look this gift horse too closely in the mouth. Natalie’s family is horrified by her move to a small conservative southern town and the prosecutor’s office. For a long time Natalie feels like an alien, but she begins to open up to her flower planting neighbor and a slower pace of life. When she is partnered with an older southern lawyer on a murder case, she discovers her new co-workers have a lot more on the ball than she suspected. Natalie finds a sense of community in her small town, leaving the big city wasn’t the end of life just a new beginning. This lovely book has released in paperback just in time for summer.
May 15, 2008
This is basically chick lit that shows some depth here and there by tackling topics like capital punishment. After an affair that turned bad, the main character, Natalie Goldberg, trades in corporate law in NYC for the district attorney's office in Macon, Georgia. Predictably, Natalie learns some lessons about herself and her life through the people she meets in her new town. I actually did enjoy the book, although I would have enjoyed it considerably more if I was on summer vacation and sipping something fruity with an umbrella in it.
Two things that drove me CRAZY: (1) The author under-uses contractions, which makes the dialogue very strange and stilted, and (2) There is no mention of using DNA -- only blood-typing -- in Natalie's capital case. The book is set in 2000, so that doesn't make sense to me.
Two things that drove me CRAZY: (1) The author under-uses contractions, which makes the dialogue very strange and stilted, and (2) There is no mention of using DNA -- only blood-typing -- in Natalie's capital case. The book is set in 2000, so that doesn't make sense to me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews