Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns

On July 5, 1906, scandal breaks in the small town of Cold Sassy, Georgia, when the proprietor of the general store, E. Rucker Blakeslee, elopes with Miss Love Simpson. He is barely three weeks a widower, and she is only half his age and a Yankee to boot. As their marriage inspires a whirlwind of local gossip, fourteen-year-old Will Tweedy suddenly finds himself eyewitness to a family scandal, and that’s where his adventures begin.

Cold Sassy Tree is the undeniably entertaining and extraordinarily moving account of small-town Southern life in a bygone era. Brimming with characters who are wise and loony, unimpeachably pious and deliciously irreverent, Olive Ann Burns’s classic bestseller is a timeless, funny, and resplendent treasure.


The only reason I even read this book was because it was the April read for a book group that I joined. I would never have discovered this book on my own and for that I am grateful. I started out reading the book, then quickly discovered the audio. The audio itself started out very fast, like the reader had a certain time limit to finish, but gradually he slowed down. The other thing was that sentences repeated itself in the audio (very distracting).

The story itself, I loved. It was a story that flowed together nicely. Told from the point of very of 14 years old Will. It was an honest veiw of 1906 Georgia, rich in detail of what life was like back then. The beliefs, the lifestyle, the do and don'ts, so different from today.

If there is anything negative I can find is that it ended too soon, I would have loved to hear more. I understand that there is a small sequel, however the author passed before she could finish it.