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TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | JAN 2021 13
BOOK
REVIEW
By Nell Klein
The WONDER BOY of WHISTLE STOP
By Fannie Flagg
I had the absolute best time with this book review. It actually involved 2 books
and a movie before I finished! When I read that Fannie Flagg had written a sequel to
“Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café” I just knew that I wanted to review
it. Problem was, I hadn’t actually read the first book. I had seen the movie which
came out in 1991, but almost 30 years has passed since then, so I remembered
very little of it. So, of course I had to read the first one first, right?
Anyway, I got a copy and I absolutely adored the book. I learned all about the
early days of Whistle Stop, Alabama in the 20’s and 30’s, the Whistle Stop Café and
many of the residents of the town. I learned the history of Idgie Threadgoode and
her friend Ruth Jamison, Evelyn Couch, Ninny Threadgoode, Sipsey, Big George and
many, many others. But the one who is the main character in “The Wonder Boy of
Whistle Stop” was Buddy Threadgoode, the son of Ruth Jamison and Aunt Idgie, and
adopted by the Threadgoodes.
If you didn’t read the first book, following all of these characters may seem
a little confusing, but I think you should be able to follow the story of the Wonder
Boy nevertheless. I would recommend reading “Fried Green Tomatoes” though,
because it was such a wonderful book. I even went so far as to watch “Fried Green
Tomatoes” one Saturday afternoon when no one was home and cried like a baby!
Anyway, enough of that, now on to the sequel.
The story begins in about 1991 when Whistle Stop has ceased to be a town.
The Café has long been shut down, along with the beauty shop, the post office
and everyone has either died or moved away. Fast forward to 2013 and Buddy
Threadgoode, who is in his 80’s, is in a nursing home in Atlanta. His daughter,
Ruthie, who adores her father, comes by regularly to see her dad. But Buddy is
getting restless. He dreams of the good old days in Whistle Stop and wants to go
back there, just one more time.
In the meantime, Evelyn Couch, who is still alive and fairly young, meets
Ruthie and they become fast friends. You see, she became very close to Ninny
Threadgoode in the first book and Ninny would spend hours telling Evelyn many
stories about Whistle Stop and all the colorful people that lived there. Evelyn wanted
to meet Buddy because Ninny had given her a box of old photos that she thought
Buddy would like to have. Ruthie arranged a meeting between the two and that’s
when the story really gets started.
Through all the stories that they tell each other, we learn about what has happened
to all the old folks from Whistle Stop and it makes Buddy want to revisit his old
home town so bad that he eventually escapes from the nursing home. He has quite
a journey before finding out that there is no more Whistle Stop.
Along the way we learn that Evelyn has made quite a name for herself and she
has quite a bit of money to play around with and she decides that she needs to do
something to help out Buddy in his golden years. So, she and her new BFF Ruthie,
set out to make an old man happy. Of course, restoring a town is not as easy as it
sounds, so you wonder, “can it be done?” You need to read the book to find out!
I give this book 5 roses. It’s the perfect sequel to a perfect book. I thoroughly
enjoyed every minute of reading these 2 delightful books. If anyone wants to read
both copies, I have them both and would love to share them. You can also just read
“The Wonder Boy” and have a really good time if you’ve already read “Fried Green
Tomatoes,” and you’ll find out all you need to know about the continuing story of the
“bee charmer.”
I hope that the new year is a time that we can all go back to the way things used
to be. I miss them so much! In the meantime, hang in there! It’s gonna get better, I
just know it!
In the meantime, read a book. If it’s a good read, pass it on!
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