Latest Book Review

Wendell-Berry-Like is the best way to describe the stories in our family book called My Flovilla.

Penned by my great-aunt just a few years before she died, twenty-four tales tell of her formative years, share sibling love, and leave a legacy.

This Fall I've had the opportunity to partner in the production of the Second Edition (that's another story) of this family treasure which is now available for sale by sending me an email.

Even though I'd read the book before, I read again with delight, and again more slowly - seeing and hearing things I had not recognized before.

Here are some examples ~

1) The trip to the dam for a picnic represented an event of historic proportion. This year marked the GA Power Centennial Celebration of Lloyd Shoals Dam, in which our great-great grandfather William Ferguson Smith was commended.

Aunt Genie's retelling of this momentous event in The Trip to the Dam reinforces my appreciation for another favorite Georgia author Terry Kay and his The Year the Lights Came On.

2) Settling family disputes with mock trials shed light on the real-life personalities of these unknown-to-me great aunt and uncles, but especially my beloved maternal grandfather, Albert Linch - who always took the role of prosecuting attorney.   So, don't miss the chapter, Cake and Piety.

3) Rearing a family takes hard work no matter when and where you live. Sometimes world events (in this case WWI) overshadow daily life and everybody pulls together. For that reason, the chapter entitled The Farm may be my very favorite - based on this quote:

Our little farm has served us well.

While none of my brothers became farmers, the lessons learned working together on the land and keeping busy in a meaningful way stood them in good stead all the rest of their lives.

I would hope that each of them carried with him a collection of memories as happy as my own of the days when we were farmers in a world at war.

Reading really does transport you to a different day and time, answering questions you never knew you had. 

We learn about growing up in community, in a real-live Port William, called Flovilla.

Thanks, Eugenie Talitha Linch aka Aunt Genie!

For taking the time to share yourself.

Then and now.

Love,

a grateful great-niece