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Flying Shoes
Thirty years after her stepbrother's unsolved murder, a reluctant Mary Byrd Thornton is forced by a detective's call to return to her family and again confront the crime's irremovable stain.
This stunning debut-from the cofounder of the legendary Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi-is a work of fiction, but the murder is based on the still-unsolved case of Lisa Howorth's stepbrother, a front page story in the Washington Post. And yet this is not a crime novel; it is an honest and luminous story of a particular time and place in the South, where even calamitous weather can be a character, everyone has a story, and all are inextricably entwined. With a flamboyant cast, splendid dark humor, a potent sense of history, and a shocking true story at its heart, Flying Shoes is a rich and candid novel from a fresh new voice about family and memory and one woman's flight from a wounded past.
This stunning debut-from the cofounder of the legendary Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi-is a work of fiction, but the murder is based on the still-unsolved case of Lisa Howorth's stepbrother, a front page story in the Washington Post. And yet this is not a crime novel; it is an honest and luminous story of a particular time and place in the South, where even calamitous weather can be a character, everyone has a story, and all are inextricably entwined. With a flamboyant cast, splendid dark humor, a potent sense of history, and a shocking true story at its heart, Flying Shoes is a rich and candid novel from a fresh new voice about family and memory and one woman's flight from a wounded past.
336 pages, Paperback
First published June 17, 2014
43 people are currently reading
2640 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Howorth
6 books64 followersLISA HOWORTH was born in Washington, D.C., where her family has lived for four generations. She is a former librarian and the author of the novel Flying Shoes. She has written on art, travel, dogs, and music for the Oxford American and Garden & Gun, among other publications. Howorth lives in Oxford, Mississippi, where she and her husband, Richard, founded Square Books in 1979.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 199 reviews
August 12, 2024
I do enjoy a good Southern Fiction book, especially one that has the “voice” of the South. “Flying Shoes” does that, and more. Maybe it’s my fondness for quirky, wonderfully flawed, and loveable characters that are thick in Southern Fiction, as is in this novel. The protagonist, Mary Bird, aka M’Bird, is a loving mother, understanding wife, and devoted friend. She’s from Italian decent, and her black housekeeper, Evagreen, has issues with her because she’s not “white” enough. Mary Bird’s best friend is a gay man, and she’s deeply devoted to the town homeless Veteran (who happens to be black). She indiscriminately flirts with the town smarmy single guy. And she LOVES Southern history. Lisa Howorth uses “marginal types” in this novel to provide entertainment and to show how important those characters are in small southern towns.
It’s a witty novel, that boarders on irreverent. There’s a discussion in the novel about which states are “authentic southern states.” I learned that Mississippi is, of course(the novel takes place there), but Virginia is a Yankee state. Mary Bird takes a ride with a trucker to visit her Mother, and that trip it a hoot.
What makes this novel so great, is that while it can be facetious at times, the main story line is very serious. Mary Bird’s brother was sexually abused and murdered thirty years ago. The crime was never solved. A cold case detective looks into it, and the family finds that there was some major bungling in handling the case. This event is deeply moving and heartbreaking. Howorth can write with compassion. The reader feels the grief of the family and the complicated emotions involved with family trauma. The housekeeper, Evagreen, has a complicated trauma in her family as well.
This book is rich with southern history. It’s entertaining and fun. Yet, there are dark and complicated themes that people from all walks of life can identify with. It’s a great work.
It’s a witty novel, that boarders on irreverent. There’s a discussion in the novel about which states are “authentic southern states.” I learned that Mississippi is, of course(the novel takes place there), but Virginia is a Yankee state. Mary Bird takes a ride with a trucker to visit her Mother, and that trip it a hoot.
What makes this novel so great, is that while it can be facetious at times, the main story line is very serious. Mary Bird’s brother was sexually abused and murdered thirty years ago. The crime was never solved. A cold case detective looks into it, and the family finds that there was some major bungling in handling the case. This event is deeply moving and heartbreaking. Howorth can write with compassion. The reader feels the grief of the family and the complicated emotions involved with family trauma. The housekeeper, Evagreen, has a complicated trauma in her family as well.
This book is rich with southern history. It’s entertaining and fun. Yet, there are dark and complicated themes that people from all walks of life can identify with. It’s a great work.
February 6, 2015
Mostly I'm just confused. Why were there such good reviews of this book? Why did a trio of amazing Anns (Ann Patchett, Jayne Anne Phillips, Bobbie Ann Mason) give it such glowing blurbs? This is the story of Mary Byrd Thornton, a wife and mother of two, and the week she has in 1996. She interacts with her gay best friend, she contemplates an affair, she goes to a funeral, she trash talks with her neighbors, she goes on a road trip in a semi. And she does it all in a totally down-homey Southern folksiness. Had this been the description of the book, I would not have read it.
Instead reviews and publicity bill the book as the story of what happened to Mary Byrd's stepbrother, who was molested and murdered about thirty years earlier, much as the author's young brother was. I had envisioned some sort of gripping family story combined with a mystery. I was wrong, but mostly I was wrong because publishers wanted me to believe that's what it was. It worked, but they haven't left me a happy reader.
I am by no means opposed to novels where there are no long-ago murders and where there are no killers to be brought to justice (most novels, in other words), but the combination of how this was sold and the fact that the murder actually plays a relatively small role -- but a weird role nevertheless -- just did not work for me.
Also: there is no way that child predators were stalking young boys and sending child pornography via the internet -- in 1987 (as the novel claims). I did not even have EMAIL till 1993.
Instead reviews and publicity bill the book as the story of what happened to Mary Byrd's stepbrother, who was molested and murdered about thirty years earlier, much as the author's young brother was. I had envisioned some sort of gripping family story combined with a mystery. I was wrong, but mostly I was wrong because publishers wanted me to believe that's what it was. It worked, but they haven't left me a happy reader.
I am by no means opposed to novels where there are no long-ago murders and where there are no killers to be brought to justice (most novels, in other words), but the combination of how this was sold and the fact that the murder actually plays a relatively small role -- but a weird role nevertheless -- just did not work for me.
Also: there is no way that child predators were stalking young boys and sending child pornography via the internet -- in 1987 (as the novel claims). I did not even have EMAIL till 1993.
August 11, 2016
Disclaimer: I won this in a first reads giveaway.
Well, this book was not for me.
The writing was ok mostly, with bouts of goodness. The dialogue was usually annoying or unrealistic (do people in Mississippi talk like this book? I doubt it). At first, I thought the plot was going to be the driving force, but the book quickly took a left turn into character development. I disliked basically all of the characters in the book, which didn't help.
Weirdly the big plot climax was very anticlimactic and not much discussion or meaning was added to it. The only meaning attached to the plot/characters was wrapped into the final few scenes in a clumsy way.
But the most annoying thing for me was the seeming respect given to characters which were blatantly racist or sexist or homophobic (or all three). If you're going to force me to read about fictional bigots I expect there to be a point to what I'm reading, either you turn those people into satires, or you point out how dumb that is, or something. But just to be like "oh, isn't this racist sexist moron truck driver so romantically southern!" um no he's not. Irritating. Its not that I object to realistic depictions of racism/sexism, but when the characters in the book are like admiring someone for "being themselves" because they're racist/sexist, I object to that. Gross.
I didn't hate it, so it squeaks by with 2 stars.
Well, this book was not for me.
The writing was ok mostly, with bouts of goodness. The dialogue was usually annoying or unrealistic (do people in Mississippi talk like this book? I doubt it). At first, I thought the plot was going to be the driving force, but the book quickly took a left turn into character development. I disliked basically all of the characters in the book, which didn't help.
Weirdly the big plot climax was very anticlimactic and not much discussion or meaning was added to it. The only meaning attached to the plot/characters was wrapped into the final few scenes in a clumsy way.
But the most annoying thing for me was the seeming respect given to characters which were blatantly racist or sexist or homophobic (or all three). If you're going to force me to read about fictional bigots I expect there to be a point to what I'm reading, either you turn those people into satires, or you point out how dumb that is, or something. But just to be like "oh, isn't this racist sexist moron truck driver so romantically southern!" um no he's not. Irritating. Its not that I object to realistic depictions of racism/sexism, but when the characters in the book are like admiring someone for "being themselves" because they're racist/sexist, I object to that. Gross.
I didn't hate it, so it squeaks by with 2 stars.
June 30, 2014
Extremely disappointed by this book, which I cannot even bring myself to call a novel. It has a beginning of sorts, but then the entire book is taken up by asides and stream in consciousness of various characters. Nothing moves the "plot" forward; in fact, there really isn't a real plot, only two short passages where the main character receives a telephone call in the beginning and has a family meeting near the end. I am amazed that some people said that meandering around without moving the plot (such as it is) forward is the hallmark of a great southern novel; I have loved many southern novels and none are as annoyingly devoid of plot as this one. I agree with Maureen's review, although she generously gave it two stars: "The plot meanders around, showing glimpses of her family life, a bit of her extracurricular activities, a little glance at race, but never pulls together into a storyline for me. I did not see enough development of the other characters. Mary Byrd's life seemed aimless, and the novel did not work for me." Couldn't have said it better, Maureen. I won't be reading anything else by this author.
March 23, 2014
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley. The novel is set in the south. The "typical" housewife, Mary Byrd, is the main character. Although she is from Virginia, she doesn't really fit into the local scene, being from away. The story opens with Mary Byrd being called back north to revisit the unsolved murder of her younger brother. This mystery runs beneath the rest of the story, but is never enough of a draw to carry the novel.
The plot meanders around, showing glimpses of her family life, a bit of her extracurricular activities, a little glance at race, but never pulls together into a storyline for me. I did not see enough development of the other characters. Mary Byrd's life seemed aimless, and the novel did not work for me.
The plot meanders around, showing glimpses of her family life, a bit of her extracurricular activities, a little glance at race, but never pulls together into a storyline for me. I did not see enough development of the other characters. Mary Byrd's life seemed aimless, and the novel did not work for me.
Read
November 9, 2014The book opens with an extended rant about Corelle dishes and how they're not actually unbreakable (do they claim to be?) and how the snobby main character thinks they're crap. Um, what? Why the vendetta against Corelle? That's what I've used my entire life, and I can tell you, it's really resilient. Very hard to break. BUT, if it does, it shatters into a thousand tiny shards. You're not going to be cleaning that shit up with your hands, that's for sure, but that's what the main character does in this book. I call bullshit.
And then there's some heavy racial stereotyping, and then she talks about used Q-tips and tampons. No, just no.
I only got to p. 8--this could still be a good book, and I fully admit that I haven't really given it much of a chance. But f it. Back it goes.
And then there's some heavy racial stereotyping, and then she talks about used Q-tips and tampons. No, just no.
I only got to p. 8--this could still be a good book, and I fully admit that I haven't really given it much of a chance. But f it. Back it goes.
July 26, 2016
Copy provided by Netgalley
This book was not for me.
Mary Byrd, a housewife, gets a call from a detective about the murder of her brother (the murder happened many years ago)so she sets off to go back home to help uncover the mystery of her brothers death.
I never really felt a connection to Mary or any of the characters in the book. There are a lot of 'side' stories going on and this made the book a little muddled (for me).
The writing style was good, but this story just did not 'capture' me like I would have liked.
This book was not for me.
Mary Byrd, a housewife, gets a call from a detective about the murder of her brother (the murder happened many years ago)so she sets off to go back home to help uncover the mystery of her brothers death.
I never really felt a connection to Mary or any of the characters in the book. There are a lot of 'side' stories going on and this made the book a little muddled (for me).
The writing style was good, but this story just did not 'capture' me like I would have liked.
August 4, 2014
2.5 stars
Many of my fellow Goodreaders seem to have been taken aback by the bait-and-switchery of Lisa Howorth's Flying Shoes's blurb description. (To be fair, I was too: after seeing the A- Entertainment Weekly paragraph-long review, skimpy on details, I came directly to Goodreads, scanned the blurb (which mentioned a child murder and Mississippi) and I was reeled in) (only to find, upon reading the book, the murder was really a backdrop to a larger, if not more compelling, story Ms. Howorth wished to convey.)
That story (which is, apparently, in part fictional autobiography) starts with Mary Byrd, a Mississippi wife and mom (and Virginia transplant) who gets a call from a detective from Richmond to let her know the unsolved murder case of her step-brother, molested and killed over thirty years prior, was going to be reopened and her presence was needed up in Virginia to solve the case. Much to the frustration of many readers, Ms. Howorth, instead of focusing on the murder, has Mary Byrd, in a laconic, slow-sipping-sweet-tea kinda way, recounting the ups and downs, the triumphs, mistakes and regrets of her life. I enjoyed her writing, though I, too, was a little frustrated the farther she got away from the central plot point (the murder of her step-brother). Ms. Howorth's snarky (and, curiously, darned funny) delivery, in presenting Mary Byrd's (Howorth's) present-day (well, 1996 anyway) family and friends was hard to reconcile with the seriousness of that ever-lurking murder (of 1966) in the background.
I appreciate the difficulty Ms. Howorth must've had in presenting this story (even if fictionalized). I hope it was able to provide some catharsis, and allow her to fully shine in a fiction-writing career (instead of tap-dancing around what amounts to awkward fictional autobiography).
Many of my fellow Goodreaders seem to have been taken aback by the bait-and-switchery of Lisa Howorth's Flying Shoes's blurb description. (To be fair, I was too: after seeing the A- Entertainment Weekly paragraph-long review, skimpy on details, I came directly to Goodreads, scanned the blurb (which mentioned a child murder and Mississippi) and I was reeled in) (only to find, upon reading the book, the murder was really a backdrop to a larger, if not more compelling, story Ms. Howorth wished to convey.)
That story (which is, apparently, in part fictional autobiography) starts with Mary Byrd, a Mississippi wife and mom (and Virginia transplant) who gets a call from a detective from Richmond to let her know the unsolved murder case of her step-brother, molested and killed over thirty years prior, was going to be reopened and her presence was needed up in Virginia to solve the case. Much to the frustration of many readers, Ms. Howorth, instead of focusing on the murder, has Mary Byrd, in a laconic, slow-sipping-sweet-tea kinda way, recounting the ups and downs, the triumphs, mistakes and regrets of her life. I enjoyed her writing, though I, too, was a little frustrated the farther she got away from the central plot point (the murder of her step-brother). Ms. Howorth's snarky (and, curiously, darned funny) delivery, in presenting Mary Byrd's (Howorth's) present-day (well, 1996 anyway) family and friends was hard to reconcile with the seriousness of that ever-lurking murder (of 1966) in the background.
I appreciate the difficulty Ms. Howorth must've had in presenting this story (even if fictionalized). I hope it was able to provide some catharsis, and allow her to fully shine in a fiction-writing career (instead of tap-dancing around what amounts to awkward fictional autobiography).
July 17, 2014
While I realize the beauty of this author's writing, this is not my cup of tea.
Firstly, I cannot stand the woman who is the main focus - Mary Byrd. She is exactly the kind of person I avoid - an unmade bed who makes no attempt to get her S**& in order. She even takes pride in her woebegone ways - leaving the cat with "amazon butt" because she doesn't grab it and clean its fur, being irrationally terrified of flying so instead she hitches a ride with a chicken farmer from Mississippi to Richmond, Virginia, dallying with an extra-marital affair and making excused for her ridiculous behavior - yuck.
Secondly, this novel aggrandizes the boozy, aristocratic south. It embraces the landed-gentry, frat boy culture which nauseates me. While these people can drop a vocabulary word as if they are sophisticated and educated - Mary Byrd's husband is even an art dealer who is wooing a drunken and rude photographer - they embrace that " don't know and don't care" kind of culture. Mary Byrd befriends every woebegone bedraggled mutt of a human because she is one herself.
The story line is interesting because it shows the commonality between cultures - her black maid who is far more competent than she is -- and why does she need a maid to help with the house and kids when she doesn't work is beyond me - has the same tragedies - love and loss. In her misery - far more severe and recent - she can still find time to show an intense kindness and empathy with Mary Byrd, but Mary Byrd can't get herself together even to the end of the novel to reciprocate in kind.
I just cannot get over the narcissism and excuse making of the main character to really like the writer's tale, even though I appreciate the central story and the effort she makes to show the timelessness of man's plight which transcends date stamp, gender, race, and income.
Firstly, I cannot stand the woman who is the main focus - Mary Byrd. She is exactly the kind of person I avoid - an unmade bed who makes no attempt to get her S**& in order. She even takes pride in her woebegone ways - leaving the cat with "amazon butt" because she doesn't grab it and clean its fur, being irrationally terrified of flying so instead she hitches a ride with a chicken farmer from Mississippi to Richmond, Virginia, dallying with an extra-marital affair and making excused for her ridiculous behavior - yuck.
Secondly, this novel aggrandizes the boozy, aristocratic south. It embraces the landed-gentry, frat boy culture which nauseates me. While these people can drop a vocabulary word as if they are sophisticated and educated - Mary Byrd's husband is even an art dealer who is wooing a drunken and rude photographer - they embrace that " don't know and don't care" kind of culture. Mary Byrd befriends every woebegone bedraggled mutt of a human because she is one herself.
The story line is interesting because it shows the commonality between cultures - her black maid who is far more competent than she is -- and why does she need a maid to help with the house and kids when she doesn't work is beyond me - has the same tragedies - love and loss. In her misery - far more severe and recent - she can still find time to show an intense kindness and empathy with Mary Byrd, but Mary Byrd can't get herself together even to the end of the novel to reciprocate in kind.
I just cannot get over the narcissism and excuse making of the main character to really like the writer's tale, even though I appreciate the central story and the effort she makes to show the timelessness of man's plight which transcends date stamp, gender, race, and income.
January 5, 2014
Flying Shoes by Lisa Howarth.
Lisa Howarth’s ‘Flying Shoes’ is a work of fiction. It is based on the still unsolved case of her stepbrother. This is not a crime novel; it is a story of a particular time and place in the South. Everything is inextricably entwined. It is like knitting pattern with many strands of wool, a pattern which does not present itself to the reader easily.
The book has a flamboyant cast and a real sense of history. The heart of the story is a shocking and true story. The protagonist talks to the reader in a voice about family and her own memories from a wounded past. The story never delivers in a straightforward pattern. It weaves and makes its way through secondary characters until suddenly we realise the pattern we were knitting all along. It is an exhilarating story full of hope, love and grief. I enjoyed this book and the internal dialogue with Mary. The reader understood her to the end – I felt this was a very well written book. I feel it deserves 4 stars.
Thank you Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this novel.
Lisa Howarth’s ‘Flying Shoes’ is a work of fiction. It is based on the still unsolved case of her stepbrother. This is not a crime novel; it is a story of a particular time and place in the South. Everything is inextricably entwined. It is like knitting pattern with many strands of wool, a pattern which does not present itself to the reader easily.
The book has a flamboyant cast and a real sense of history. The heart of the story is a shocking and true story. The protagonist talks to the reader in a voice about family and her own memories from a wounded past. The story never delivers in a straightforward pattern. It weaves and makes its way through secondary characters until suddenly we realise the pattern we were knitting all along. It is an exhilarating story full of hope, love and grief. I enjoyed this book and the internal dialogue with Mary. The reader understood her to the end – I felt this was a very well written book. I feel it deserves 4 stars.
Thank you Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this novel.
June 30, 2014
Never could get into this book. The whole thing felt like backstory.
February 18, 2014
Oxford, Mississippi resident Mary Byrd Thornton receives a phone call from a detective that the 30 year old cold case investigation into her then very young half-brother Stevie is being re-opened. She has suffered guilt for many years that she was somehow connected to his murder and while she wants to see justice served, there is hesitation in returning to the painful past that the family has tried to move beyond. The story doesn't revolve solely around Stevie's murder. The reader is given a very large group of characters, and a second murder story as Mary's housekeeper's daughter is accused of killing Angie's abusive husband. There is insight into the plantation past and current racial issues. From the beginning the reader understands there is a set way for people to act in the exchanges between Mary and her housekeeper. While it's a serious story, Mary as a character is cynical and lends the novel much laughter. Every character in this novel is lively and interesting. Unlike other stories in the same vein, it is nice to see when the past comes to visit one's present life doesn't just stop existing. I really enjoyed this novel, there is so much to keep the reader invested.
July 18, 2014
A real charmer. From the book: "…she learned early that this is the way the world works, randomly and chaotically, with billions and trillions of stories overlapping and colliding and entangling so that one could never feel that one's own story was one's own. Everything that happened was like a stone thrown in a pond, rippling out, or an earthquake causing distant tsunamis."
We're treated to a few of these overlapping stories as we follow Mary Byrd, whose life was forever changed when her young stepbrother was molested and murdered. The sense of people and place is profound. Excellent writing, with characters and events that will stick with you. A good piece of literature that I will read again.
I received this book for free through Goodreads.
We're treated to a few of these overlapping stories as we follow Mary Byrd, whose life was forever changed when her young stepbrother was molested and murdered. The sense of people and place is profound. Excellent writing, with characters and events that will stick with you. A good piece of literature that I will read again.
I received this book for free through Goodreads.
June 24, 2017
This book was really good. It's too bad that it was originally marketed as a thriller/mystery (as other reviewers said) because that made the wrong people read this book. This was a meandering, souther novel. It felt very real to me, and I really enjoyed it.
July 24, 2014
Flying Shoes
By
Lisa Howorth
My " in a nutshell" summary...
Mary Byrd Thornton has been called back to Virginia to be made aware of "new evidence" for the murder/disappearance of her stepbrother Stevie over 30 years ago. Other issues and colorful characters take up more than half of this book before she is able to leave.
My thoughts after reading this book...
Mary Byrd Thornton has much going on in her life. Two naughty puppies, three cats...two inside and one feral...a lawn and garden to take care of...two recalcitrant children, Evagreen...a stubborn slightly neurotic housekeeper whose daughter just shot her husband, a gay best friend, a husband who may or may not have secrets, a sort of survivalist weird book writing "friend" who lives with his auntie and grandmother and who feels better after he shoots something, and a various assortment of local sort of folksy odd Mississippi characters...and for me...not an appealing one in the batch. And...I might add...in fact I will add...Evagreen...the housekeeper...purposefully hides things from Mary Byrd or breaks her things when she cleans...how awful...I didn't like her or Mary Byrd or Mary Byrd's mother...sigh!
It took forever for Mary Byrd to leave town because she is afraid to fly and a bit of a pill popper. I did not feel a connection to this book at all and I wanted to love it. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I did not like the characters or their situations. I could not connect with the way this author wrote...for me it was disappointing. Other readers may truly love this book but I just did not...it's as simple as that...for me...a mismatch.
Final thoughts...
Potential readers will have to decide on their own whether this book is a fit with them or not. I thought that it was going to be about what happened to Stevie thirty years ago and it was and then it wasn't. There were too many cringe worthy moments in this book for me...dog poop and head lice and learning what a FUPA is...I had to google it...and other icky stuff...but that is me...it seemed as though every time I would almost get into this book...dog poop would come up again...and seriously...these are my issues but I was just not excited about this book. It's not my intention to make light of some of the things this author wrote about but I could not feel empathy for the characters either...not any of them. I repeat...I thought it was going to be about Stevie but it was about everything else that wasn't even important to anything.
By
Lisa Howorth
My " in a nutshell" summary...
Mary Byrd Thornton has been called back to Virginia to be made aware of "new evidence" for the murder/disappearance of her stepbrother Stevie over 30 years ago. Other issues and colorful characters take up more than half of this book before she is able to leave.
My thoughts after reading this book...
Mary Byrd Thornton has much going on in her life. Two naughty puppies, three cats...two inside and one feral...a lawn and garden to take care of...two recalcitrant children, Evagreen...a stubborn slightly neurotic housekeeper whose daughter just shot her husband, a gay best friend, a husband who may or may not have secrets, a sort of survivalist weird book writing "friend" who lives with his auntie and grandmother and who feels better after he shoots something, and a various assortment of local sort of folksy odd Mississippi characters...and for me...not an appealing one in the batch. And...I might add...in fact I will add...Evagreen...the housekeeper...purposefully hides things from Mary Byrd or breaks her things when she cleans...how awful...I didn't like her or Mary Byrd or Mary Byrd's mother...sigh!
It took forever for Mary Byrd to leave town because she is afraid to fly and a bit of a pill popper. I did not feel a connection to this book at all and I wanted to love it. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I did not like the characters or their situations. I could not connect with the way this author wrote...for me it was disappointing. Other readers may truly love this book but I just did not...it's as simple as that...for me...a mismatch.
Final thoughts...
Potential readers will have to decide on their own whether this book is a fit with them or not. I thought that it was going to be about what happened to Stevie thirty years ago and it was and then it wasn't. There were too many cringe worthy moments in this book for me...dog poop and head lice and learning what a FUPA is...I had to google it...and other icky stuff...but that is me...it seemed as though every time I would almost get into this book...dog poop would come up again...and seriously...these are my issues but I was just not excited about this book. It's not my intention to make light of some of the things this author wrote about but I could not feel empathy for the characters either...not any of them. I repeat...I thought it was going to be about Stevie but it was about everything else that wasn't even important to anything.
August 11, 2016
Man I was so excited to get an ARC of this, because I've been waiting for it to come out for what seems like foreverrrr... and it hit the spot. Anything Ann Patchett has been waiting for, put me on that list. I start to get a craving for (so-called) southern fiction in early summer (by mid July I'm all into the Scandinavians -- give me all the ice and snow escapism. One of my most memorable reading experiences remains Smilia's Sense of Snow in August). Anyway, that brings me to the first point -- this isn't like, southern fiction, smack you over the head with Tara and mint juleps. Mary Byrd is one of the most real, likable and utterly unclassifiable characters I have come across. I love Ernest's description of her dark side. I fell for her when she's digging for a Xanax in her jeans pocket in the opening scene. It just so easy to identify with her inner monologue and her decisions. That sounds lame. See, I love her so much I can't even put it into words.
As to reading experience, I was sucked in immediately (and disappointed when my eye doctor came to call me). That's how into it I was. That said, it was mostly my love for Mary Byrd that kept me reading -- the novel has no real narrative structure in the traditional sense, and definitely not the more specific "dark family mystery" plot that the marketing leads us to expect. The detective's revelations were the most page-turny for me, and I found the novel dragged a bit after that section, but that's also me not liking happy endings. Or resolutions.
The other characters are super lovable, in a complicated way, and well drawn. They will people your brain. There's some striking images and passages and plays with language throughout (I particularly liked Ernest's reflections on the Rolling Stones, and Teever's thoughts on family). The most seemingly bizarre connections I wrote in the margins are London Fields and Clockwork Orange, which I think reflects the skill of the writing in parts as well as the ability, at it's best, to tap into that universal subconscious of good fiction.
Four stars for needing a more aggressive editor. Still, would recommend without hesitation, especially for a long weekend.
As to reading experience, I was sucked in immediately (and disappointed when my eye doctor came to call me). That's how into it I was. That said, it was mostly my love for Mary Byrd that kept me reading -- the novel has no real narrative structure in the traditional sense, and definitely not the more specific "dark family mystery" plot that the marketing leads us to expect. The detective's revelations were the most page-turny for me, and I found the novel dragged a bit after that section, but that's also me not liking happy endings. Or resolutions.
The other characters are super lovable, in a complicated way, and well drawn. They will people your brain. There's some striking images and passages and plays with language throughout (I particularly liked Ernest's reflections on the Rolling Stones, and Teever's thoughts on family). The most seemingly bizarre connections I wrote in the margins are London Fields and Clockwork Orange, which I think reflects the skill of the writing in parts as well as the ability, at it's best, to tap into that universal subconscious of good fiction.
Four stars for needing a more aggressive editor. Still, would recommend without hesitation, especially for a long weekend.
July 6, 2014
'Flying Shoes' is an interesting, and appropriate, title for Lisa Howorth's novel. Like many readers, I pick up a book, consider the title and cover image, glance over the blurbs and dive in eagerly. Most books are clearly represented, but this novel is not easily surmised by any of the typical attributes. Yes, I know, don't judge a book by its cover. Flying Shoes is presented as a mystery. When the character of Mary Byrd Thornton receives a phone call in her Mississippi home concerning a 30-year-old cold case of her murdered stepbrother, it sets the story in motion. The path it takes, however, is not one that is expected. In fact, the story becomes less and less about the mystery and more about the thoughts of the protagonist as she muddles through her middle-age life - demanding children, lukewarm marriage, aging mother.
Set in the South, the novel is full of colorful and intriguing characters. The minor characters are not fully developed but it is easy to imagine their lives. Howorth ties the characters together in unexpected ways, from a truck driver who gives Mary a ride during a dangerous winter storm to a housekeeper who deals with a family tragedy of her own and evokes an empathetic response from Mary. With all the bits and pieces given about the characters, I found myself wanting to know more but, like the mystery that unfolds slowly, there is plenty of room for imagination. That, of course, is not a detriment to the story, but I enjoy characters who I come to know and miss when the last page is read.
The novel, based on the author's experience of the loss of her stepbrother, is worth reading but be sure to approach the book with an open mind. It is a bit like flying shoes. You can't be certain where it will land. Enjoy!
*I received Flying Shoes in a Goodreads giveaway.*
Set in the South, the novel is full of colorful and intriguing characters. The minor characters are not fully developed but it is easy to imagine their lives. Howorth ties the characters together in unexpected ways, from a truck driver who gives Mary a ride during a dangerous winter storm to a housekeeper who deals with a family tragedy of her own and evokes an empathetic response from Mary. With all the bits and pieces given about the characters, I found myself wanting to know more but, like the mystery that unfolds slowly, there is plenty of room for imagination. That, of course, is not a detriment to the story, but I enjoy characters who I come to know and miss when the last page is read.
The novel, based on the author's experience of the loss of her stepbrother, is worth reading but be sure to approach the book with an open mind. It is a bit like flying shoes. You can't be certain where it will land. Enjoy!
*I received Flying Shoes in a Goodreads giveaway.*
January 17, 2014
When Oxford, Mississippi resident Mary Byrd Thornton receives word from a Virginia detective that the thirty-year-old investigation into the assault and murder of her half-brother, Stevie, is being reopened, she must travel to her hometown to confront her family’s heartbreaking past. Her current life doesn’t stop for the investigation, however. As Mary Byrd is preparing for the arduous journey through a killer storm, the daughter of Mary Byrd’s housekeeper, Evagreen, is arrested for the murder of Angie’s abusive husband.
In Flying Shoes, Lisa Howorth (co-owner of Oxford’s beloved institution Square Books) provides a smart, provocative glimpse into an often misunderstood culture. While the story of the search for Stevie’s killer plays backseat to the larger story of Mary Byrd’s life as a wife, mother, friend, and inhabitant of Oxford, the specter of Stevie’s loss, and Mary Byrd’s guilt over her possible connection to the crime, haunts the entire novel. The wide cast of deftly drawn characters–a homeless Vietnam vet named Teever, an insufferable but too-famous-to-be-ignored photographer, a hard-drinking love interest from an old but fallen family, and Mary Byrd’s dear friend Mann–offers a glimpse into the complexities and contradictions of Mississippi’s plantation-era past, which has deep-seated implications for racial relations in the present day.
Poignant and unputdownable, Flying Shoes is told with humor and verve. Highly recommended.
Bloomsbury USA, Hardcover, 9781620403013, June 17, 2014
(I received this book from NetGalley. This review also appears at San Francisco Journal of Books and on my personal blog, Sans Serif.
In Flying Shoes, Lisa Howorth (co-owner of Oxford’s beloved institution Square Books) provides a smart, provocative glimpse into an often misunderstood culture. While the story of the search for Stevie’s killer plays backseat to the larger story of Mary Byrd’s life as a wife, mother, friend, and inhabitant of Oxford, the specter of Stevie’s loss, and Mary Byrd’s guilt over her possible connection to the crime, haunts the entire novel. The wide cast of deftly drawn characters–a homeless Vietnam vet named Teever, an insufferable but too-famous-to-be-ignored photographer, a hard-drinking love interest from an old but fallen family, and Mary Byrd’s dear friend Mann–offers a glimpse into the complexities and contradictions of Mississippi’s plantation-era past, which has deep-seated implications for racial relations in the present day.
Poignant and unputdownable, Flying Shoes is told with humor and verve. Highly recommended.
Bloomsbury USA, Hardcover, 9781620403013, June 17, 2014
(I received this book from NetGalley. This review also appears at San Francisco Journal of Books and on my personal blog, Sans Serif.
July 16, 2014
3.5 stars
If you are the kind of person who alphabetizes your books, color-codes your closets and likes stories with a clear beginning, middle and end, bookstore owner Lisa Howorth's first novel, Flying Shoes (Bloomsbury, digital galley) is likely to drive you plum crazy. How appropriate it kicks off with Mary Byrd Thornton throwing a cheap plate on the heart-pine kitchen floor of her Oxford, Miss., home. The shards of faux-china explode all over the place, just like the pieces of Mary Byrd's story. It's a credit to Howorth's often-glorious writing that you're willing to pick through the mess.
Really, plot is the least of it, although Mary Byrd throws the plate after getting the news that the 1966 unsolved case of her murdered little brother in Richmond, Va., is being reopened after 30 years and Mary Byrd needs to come home. This will eventually result in her hitching a ride with a trucker and outrunning the ice storm that paralyzes Oxford, but not before her housekeeper Eva's daughter is accused of murdering her abusive husband. And then there's Mary Byrd's husband Charles and their children, her gay best friend Hubbard, the homeless but resourceful vet Teever, and gallivanting flirt Jack Ernest. They all have their stories, which intertwine with Mary Byrd's like the ragged vines in her overgrown garden. The past tale of the murdered brother is overwhelmed by the casual chaos of Mary Byrd's present, the very randomness of the everyday. Best go with the flow, or you can always fling a plate.
from On a Clear Day I Can Read Forever http://patebooks.wordpress.com
If you are the kind of person who alphabetizes your books, color-codes your closets and likes stories with a clear beginning, middle and end, bookstore owner Lisa Howorth's first novel, Flying Shoes (Bloomsbury, digital galley) is likely to drive you plum crazy. How appropriate it kicks off with Mary Byrd Thornton throwing a cheap plate on the heart-pine kitchen floor of her Oxford, Miss., home. The shards of faux-china explode all over the place, just like the pieces of Mary Byrd's story. It's a credit to Howorth's often-glorious writing that you're willing to pick through the mess.
Really, plot is the least of it, although Mary Byrd throws the plate after getting the news that the 1966 unsolved case of her murdered little brother in Richmond, Va., is being reopened after 30 years and Mary Byrd needs to come home. This will eventually result in her hitching a ride with a trucker and outrunning the ice storm that paralyzes Oxford, but not before her housekeeper Eva's daughter is accused of murdering her abusive husband. And then there's Mary Byrd's husband Charles and their children, her gay best friend Hubbard, the homeless but resourceful vet Teever, and gallivanting flirt Jack Ernest. They all have their stories, which intertwine with Mary Byrd's like the ragged vines in her overgrown garden. The past tale of the murdered brother is overwhelmed by the casual chaos of Mary Byrd's present, the very randomness of the everyday. Best go with the flow, or you can always fling a plate.
from On a Clear Day I Can Read Forever http://patebooks.wordpress.com
July 11, 2015
This book introduces Mary Byrd Thornton, a married woman with two children, living in Mississippi in the late 1990s. One day she receives a phone call from a reporter in Richmond, asking her about the case of her younger brother who was kidnapped and killed on Mother's Day in 1966. This takes Mary Byrd back to the time, place, and family in Virginia where she grew up, and where this happened. She has always had a certain degree of guilt about her younger brother's death, and it has colored her personality and life for nearly as long as she can remember. There is a detective who is working on cold cases, and wants to update the family on details.
I found this part of the book really interesting, and thought the author did a good job of evoking people, places, and emotions about this time. (I later found out that the author's younger brother was also kidnapped and murdered, and it has never been solved.) An event like this changes every person in a family in some way, and also changes a community, particularly at a time when people were not necessarily as aware of child predators as they are now.
I can't say that I really liked Mary Byrd. She was interesting, but not that appealing to me. I liked the book overall, and kept reading to the end, but found it odd and frankly frustrating when chapters would be about tangential characters. I guess it was supposed to lend flavor of time and place to the story, but I think they could have been left out, or at least shortened, and the main story would have held up just fine.
I found this part of the book really interesting, and thought the author did a good job of evoking people, places, and emotions about this time. (I later found out that the author's younger brother was also kidnapped and murdered, and it has never been solved.) An event like this changes every person in a family in some way, and also changes a community, particularly at a time when people were not necessarily as aware of child predators as they are now.
I can't say that I really liked Mary Byrd. She was interesting, but not that appealing to me. I liked the book overall, and kept reading to the end, but found it odd and frankly frustrating when chapters would be about tangential characters. I guess it was supposed to lend flavor of time and place to the story, but I think they could have been left out, or at least shortened, and the main story would have held up just fine.
December 16, 2013
Mary Byrd Thornton receives an unwelcome phone call in the midst of her messy, busy life in Mississippi, telling her that the police in her home town of Richmond, VA believe they have new information about the molestation and murder of her 9 year old step-brother that happened over twenty years earlier. She must put things in order for the trip back to Richmond to try to deal with this dreaded issue ~ see that her children are taken to school, that her husband & kids have food in the house, and figure out how she's going to get to Richmond (she's scared to death of flying). Without "telling" us, the author shows us how chaotic Mary Byrd's life is, how she struggles with order, and how much of it is the result of what happened so many years before. At times, I wondered about the relevancy of all Mary Byrd's internal dialogue, her obsession with "things", and the way she seemed to be sort of skating on the edge of disaster, but it is all part of the picture of Mary Byrd. In the end, I'm so glad that all those parts I wondered about were in the book. I felt that I knew her, and understood her chaos. I thought this was a very well-written and engaging book.
July 6, 2014
I am a sucker for first novels, imagining there are millions of them around in drawers, closets, cupboards etc. that will never be published. A friend of mine wrote two like Left Behind that were never accepted by a book publisher.
Although I swear I will never read another novel set in the deep southern United States, I went ahead with this one because it is a first novel.
I cannot understand how it got printed by a legitimate publisher. The characters are all worthless chasing the next party, pill or sexual encounter. All the lives, except for the poor black folks have no meaning. There is tragedy enough for many more families than are effected.
I would encourage you to skip this one in spite of the compelling title.
Although I swear I will never read another novel set in the deep southern United States, I went ahead with this one because it is a first novel.
I cannot understand how it got printed by a legitimate publisher. The characters are all worthless chasing the next party, pill or sexual encounter. All the lives, except for the poor black folks have no meaning. There is tragedy enough for many more families than are effected.
I would encourage you to skip this one in spite of the compelling title.
June 20, 2014
I felt mostly like I was sitting on the porch with Lisa having lemonade and catching up on all the doings around town. Yes at the heart of this novel there is an old unsolved murder. But there are always old stories and secrets in every family and all over every town. The old sadnesses get carried along with us to the beauty shop or the post office and it is in this quotidian way that our real lives get sorted and new memories get made.
I met Lisa when I was a guest on her bookstore's Thacker Mountain Radio show last fall. She told me about this book and the long journey she'd been on while she wrote it. But she did not do it justice. Flying Shoes is a juicy little southern character novel. It meanders in a crooked line and takes you to all the best spots in town!
I met Lisa when I was a guest on her bookstore's Thacker Mountain Radio show last fall. She told me about this book and the long journey she'd been on while she wrote it. But she did not do it justice. Flying Shoes is a juicy little southern character novel. It meanders in a crooked line and takes you to all the best spots in town!
May 14, 2014
This is a tough book to review. The character development was engaging and each of the stories about the characters was interesting. The problem was with the book as a whole. It felt like all of the stories should be building up to something where everything converged, presumably surrounding the long ago unsolved murder, but this never happened. There were well written character stories that stayed independent from the others and so at the end of the day the novel seemed to lack purpose. As a first novel for this author, definitely there are sparks of really enjoyable writing. I would try something by this author again but not sure I would recommend this particular read.
July 7, 2014
So different from what I was expecting. This book is not plot driven at all. It pretty much just follows this woman, who mostly just has men friends, (her husband is barely even a character in the book), around for a few days, in which several fairly dramatic events take place. But then it switches viewpoints several times too. And the title had very little to do with anything in the book, also. And yet, there were thoughts of the characters and events in it that were very relatable to me.
February 20, 2014
Lisa Howorth deftly weaves together a beautiful story of the South, family, relationships, racial issues and unresolved guilt. She takes seemingly unrelated strands of stories of people who are important in Mary Byrd’s life and intertwines them until you understand how the unsolved murder of Mary Byrd’s young brother 30 years ago and the guilt she has carried around since then have made her the cynical, needy, self-destructive, funny, and very likable character she is today.
July 21, 2014
this book sucked. where do I begin, the first hundred pages went through the family history of practically every character in the book, the majority of the book focused on unimportant characters and events,and finally, there was only ONE CHAPTER dedicated to the reopening of the case. What the hell??? That's what the whole book was supposed to be about!!! I held out hope that somehow all the back stories were somehow related, but nope!!
December 12, 2014
What happens when a tragedy strikes the youngest in a family? Thirty years after her kid brother is killed, Mary Byrd and her relatives are still trying to cope with their loss. This story intertwines with the goings-on in her small Southern town. Truly looking forward to reading more by Howorth; she has a great turn of phrase and an excellent feel for her surroundings. Highly recommended.
July 14, 2014
I rarely stop reading a book, even if I'm not enjoying it. This one was the exception. 100 pages in and it meandered so much and never developed anything resembling a plot. Lots of stream-of-consciousness about nothing. Fed up, I gave up.
July 23, 2014
I thought it was going to center around an unsolved crime from decades ago, but that was only mentioned a few times. It really just followed the main character around all day, while she did totally mundane things and talked to her family, neighbors and friends, who I didn't really like that much.
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