gODS IN ALABAMA by Joshilyn Jackson

Finished Sa 1/29/17

This is a library book because I liked THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYONE, the Contemporary Book Club's selection for January, 2017. "gODS" (first letter is not capitalized) is the author's first novel- 2005.

First paragraph in the book-

"There are gods in Alabama: Jack Daniel's, high school quarterbacks, trucks, big tits, and also Jesus. I left one back there myself, back in Possett. I kicked it under the kudzu and left it to the roaches...."

Arlene Fleet is from Possett, Alabama. She makes a promise to God that she will clean up her act (no lying, no sex, etc) if he will let her get away with the murder of high school quarterback, Jim Beverly.

Arlene is engaged to a black tax lawyer, ('Burr'- Burroughs). They live in Chicago. She is a graduate student and teacher.

Clarice- Arlene's beautiful cousin. Arlene is an Army Brat. Her father dies and her mother collapses mentally, and is no longer able to take care of her daughter.

Aunt Florence and her husband, Uncle Bruster, rescue Arlene and her mother. Florence becomes her real mother.

Arlene and Burr come back to Alabama for Uncle Bruster's retirement from the postal service. But, really because Rose Mae Lolley, a friend of Jim Beverly, has traveled to Chicago and is asking about..." where is Jim"?

Clarice was raped by Jim. Florence would only allow Clarice to date if she double-dated with her homely cousin, Arlene. Arlene and Clarice thought that they had kept the rape a secret from Florence, but she knew.

Shortly afterward, Arlene saw Jim with a freshman girl at the local 'lover's lane'. The girl left and Jim is drunk on tequila, and Arlene sneaks up behind him and bashes him in the head with the bottle and he falls deep into the kudzu (apparently the slang term for this plant is 'roaches').

However, in the end of the novel it's revealed that Jim was not killed by Arlene's attack. Arlene had always believed that she had killed him. He lived and got in his car, wrecked it, and was picked up by Florence who was out looking for Arlene. She noticed that Clarice had returned, but Arlene was not home. Florence strangles Jim in the front seat of her car. She puts the body in the trunk and buries Jim in her garden the next morning.

Best line-

"...my asshole grandpa and his wife, Saint Granny"

I loved the book, but the plot line was very convoluted. I guess that's what the author intended, and this inconvenience is more that made up for by the savory and quirky characters.

The book at amazon-

 https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Alabama-Joshilyn-Jackson/dp/0446694533