![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/supremes.jpg\" "\\"supremes\\"")
<\/a>This novel reminds me of the best works of Fannie Flagg, and, believe, me, I mean that as a ringing endorsement. I think Fannie Flagg does a marvelous job of writing about real people, deftly combining laugh-out-loud humor with wisdom, honestly writing about the joys and the heartaches of life. Sometimes, she tosses in a touch of magic.<\/p>\nThis story of three girls who were dubbed \u201cthe Supremes\u201d because it was the 1960s and they were young, black and nearly inseparable, is squarely in that tradition. It is an often funny, sometimes poignant, always genuine look at life\u2019s inevitable blend of comedy and tragedy.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll admit that I was a bit leery at first. The book is billed as the story of three women who were high-school best friends as they make their way over four decades of marriage, children and the business of living. There are so many novels about groups of women friends that these books tend to take on a certain sameness.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the fact that this book about women is written by a man \u2013 Edward Kelsey Moore, a first-time novelist whose \u201creal\u201d job has been as a cellist in Chicago. What, I thought, gives this man the idea that he can write credibly about the hopes and dreams of women, that he can understand and convey their challenges and triumphs?<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t take many minutes of listening to the audio presentation of the book to realize my doubts were unfounded. Moore has written a brief note explaining that the novel grew out of a childhood spent \u201ceavesdropping\u201d on the adult women in his family, and is intended to celebrate \u201csmart, funny, and strong women.\u201d He obviously listened well.<\/p>\n
And although his book is reminiscent in a good way of Fannie Flagg\u2019s stories, it\u2019s thoroughly original. Clarice, Barbara Jean and especially Odette are vibrant, achingly human and definitely their own women. And then there are Odette\u2019s mother, Dora, and her pal Eleanor Roosevelt, but I\u2019ll let you discover get acquainted with them on your own. Just when you fear that this book is going to lapse into the predictable, Moore throws you a surprise.<\/p>\n
Clarice, who has been in the public eye since she was the first black baby born in University Hospital, believes that appearances are important and being prim and proper is a high virtue, perhaps the highest. She maintains her standards despite her philandering husband\u2019s misadventures.<\/p>\n
Beautiful Barbara Jean grew up in rough circumstances until teenage Odette, with the nervous assistance of Clarice, took her under her ample wing. Now Barbara Jean\u2019s past threatens to destroy the life she\u2019s made for herself.<\/p>\n
Odette, born in a sycamore tree, is tough, determined and known to be fearless. She\u2019s built broad and strong, just like her mother. But life hands her a terrifying challenge that even she might not be able to conquer.<\/p>\n
The story spins out in chapters that move back and forth in time. They also alternate between Odette\u2019s first-person accounts and a third-person narrative, a device that offers multiple insights and deeper understanding. In the audio presentation, two readers with noticeably different voices underscore the shifting points-of-view.<\/p>\n
Earl\u2019s All-You-Can-Eat is a restaurant and gathering place that\u2019s the heart of the black community in Plainview, a Southern Indiana town. That\u2019s where the Supremes hung out when they were teenagers, and it\u2019s where they go for Sunday dinner and gossip as adults. Big Earl, the founder, was a wise and compassionate man.<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t go wrong with this book whether you read the print version or let these two skilled women read it to you.\u00a0 I can attest, though, that if you listen to the audio presentation, you\u2019ll come to believe you\u2019re sitting at a table at Earl\u2019s, sharing time and stories with good people. You can\u2019t quite taste the ribs, wings and other delights on the all-you-can-eat buffet, but you sure can savor the friendship.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Want to laugh, cry, shake your head and smile? Need a reminder about the good things in life, the things that help us rise above the setbacks? Then Edward Kelsey Moore’s debut novel is a book for you. By Linda C. Brinson THE SUPREMES AT EARL\u2019S ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT. By Edward Kelsey Moore. Read by Adenrele Ojo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,426],"tags":[820,427,428],"class_list":["post-1075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio-books","category-popular-fiction","tag-audio-books","tag-edward-kelsey-moore","tag-popular-fiction-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1075"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1077,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075\/revisions\/1077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}