Review of Lydia

Lydia

Tim Sandlin

Sourcebooks 2011

ISBN 9781402241819

   Sam Callahan manages the Virgin Birth Home for unwed mothers. All of these women keep Sam's life interesting; but his family members are the ones who top the list. His mother has just gotten out of prison for attempting to poison the President's dog and his daughter is most definitely not herself. To top this off, they go on the road with a hundred year old man from the nursing home, an adopted son who is looking for his past and they are being pursued by a psycho.

   Tim Sandlin has revisited some characters from his GroVont, Wyoming trilogy. The story is told through the eyes of Sam Callahan, who is also an author in our story. This story is packed full of strange and unusual humor. Most so dry that you have to laugh. Well, maybe a chuckle.

   This was my first read of Tim Sandlins. It took a bit for me to get into the story. I was lost in the beginning because I had no idea what was going on. Once you get further along, you are able to figure out what is taking place. Maybe if I had read some of the other works, I would have known what was happening from the start.

   Something that needs to be clear, Sam's mother, Lydia, is required to do community service. In her case, this entails doing a story on Oly (our hundred year old geriatric resident). This is the one complaint I had about the story. This story is told by Oly in detail throughout the book. It seemed to drone on and on forever and was tiresome reading for me. I found myself skimming these sections whenever I came to them. Otherwise, this was an adventurous read that kept you wondering what was going to happen next. The characters in this book are quite the bunch. They are all a bit quirky and most have a screw or two lose. You can't help but love them.

   This is one of those books that you have no idea where the story will end up and I have to tell you I was quite surprised at the turn of events. Can't say anymore or it would ruin the story. You will just have to read it for yourself.

   I wish to thank Sourcebooks for providing me with a copy to read and review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I was not compensated in any way except for receiving the book to review.

I give Lydia 4 out of 5 stars