2 out of 4 stars
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Tennessee Transplantation by Anita Phelps Lockhart is a contemporary, fictional novel. The book is about an older, retired couple. Ann and Frank Flanders live in New York and enjoy traveling south during the cold, winter months. They are searching for a place to retire comfortably. Since they are a retired, middle class couple living on a limited budget, Ann has become adept at creative ways to save money.
The story begins with Ann having an interesting idea of how to save money on their next trip. She contacts the chamber of commerce in the small, Tennessee town they plan to visit. She wants to find a room in an elderly person's home in exchange for providing help around the house. This would be a mutually beneficial situation.
Through a providential set of events, the couple is put in touch with an elderly lady, Addie Rainer. The situation works out to everyone's advantage. The remainder of the book develops the characters Ann and Frank meet, describes the various exploits of the small town's citizens, and suggests some money saving tips.
The author, Anita Lockhart, is a retired federal employee. She published a poetry book and has written several short stories for a news magazine. Although this is her first novel, it is apparent by her writing skills that she is not a novice. I found very few grammatical mistakes, which was refreshing. Ms Lockhart has an easy-to-read style. She provides very detailed descriptions of the characters and setting. Although, at times I felt there was too much detail that dragged the story down. The first half of the book seemed slow-paced to me and was difficult to keep reading. However, by that point in the book, I was interested in the character's lives and wanted to keep reading to see where this story would take them. The depth of character development and focus on emotions was a positive aspect for me. Also, the dialogue fit the area of the country where this story takes place, without seeming forced and stilted. There is local, small-town flavor scattered throughout. The downside was I didn't feel the story was going anywhere. The most action came towards the end of the book. The characters were strong but the plot was weak.
For the reasons stated above, I rate this novel 2 out of 4 stars. I think this book would be enjoyed by older readers who appreciate lots of detail and writing that pertains to their generation. I would like to see another book by this author with more action and a faster pace. I think she has the ability to write great down-to-earth fictional novels that would appeal to a wider range of readers.
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Tennessee Transplantation
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