Cold Sassy Tree

I can't now remember how I heard about this book, probably in something like Honey for a Woman's Heart. Since my reading time is at a premium, I haven't been reading a lot of fiction in recent months, but I'm glad I made this a part of my list. The author has such an engaging writing style, and once you get past the southern colloquialisms (something I can struggle with), it was great. There are some fantastic laugh-out-loud moments (nursing pigs, inflatable "bosoms", the ratty play), and more than a few heartbreaking moments (a grave of roses, Uncle Camp's sad end, "That Night"), and all of which not only hook you into the story, but make you care about these crazy people. Our hero, Will Tweedy, is the 14-year-old who gives us a tour of Cold Sassy and the events surrounding and following his grandmother's death. In a world of etiquette and tradition, how do cope when your Grandad up and marries a woman half his age only three weeks after his wife's death? Fortunately, I don't know, but Will seems to handle the excitement with style, humor and grace, while the rest of his family and the whole town go bananas over the scandal.
This book sat on my bedside and kept me up past my bedtime a couple of times (cliff-hanger chapter endings are always the death of me). If you haven't read it, it's worth finding time for. If you have read it, what did you think?