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Title: The Staggerford Flood by Jon Hassler ISBN: 0-452-28462-7 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: 28 October, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.29 (7 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: (3.5) An octogenarian's slumber party
Comment: At a time when neighbors are barely acquainted, Hassler offers a welcome distraction, a visit to a place where America is known for its small towns with friendly people, where the postman greets everyone on his route. The Staggerford Flood is author Jon Hassler's intimate novel of small town life, in Staggerford, Minnesota, where everyone's business is discussed by folks who have known each other all their lives. Staggerford has the aura of turn-of the-century America, long before extended families began their exodus to crowded cities, where distance is an obstacle to communication.
Most of the characters in this novel are familiar faces, returning from previous tales, updating their stories. The most endearing character is Miss Agatha McGhee, a former schoolteacher and octogenarian and the resident wise woman. Agatha hasn't gotten out much the last few months, slightly under the weather, but when she sees her name in the headlines of the local newspaper, she is incensed that anyone would announce her business without consulting her. The newspaper article gets Agatha's dander up and she is on the move, fueled by a need to set the record straight. While in town, Agatha learns that the recent rain threatens to flood, that the Badbattle River will inundate all of Staggerford, as well as the neighboring towns.
Immediately concerned with those neighbors who may not have shelter when their homes flood or are unable to reach the safety of higher ground, Agatha prepares for the worst, gathering blankets and canned goods to accommodate at least two guests. When the number of stranded women increases drastically, Agatha is hard-pressed to accommodate everyone comfortably.
Agatha has gathered an odd assortment of eccentrics under her roof. Among the guests are Agatha's best friend of many years, Lillian, and her obdurate daughter, the town's new undertaker, Linda Schwartzman, Janet Meers with her daughter Sara and the much-married Beverly Bingham Cooper. Her usually quiet residence is filled with female chatter and laughter, as the women nestle contentedly out of harm's way, pleased to be warm and dry. Even when the electricity shorts out, the little group snuggles together in candlelight, festive and secure.
There is much reminiscing and storytelling as the women wait out nature's fury.
Add an assortment of town regulars who check on the women's safety, the sheriff, a local radio talk show host (a gossip) and Agatha's nephew, Frederick, and the octogenarian's house becomes a temporary home to some wonderfully eccentric characters. Agatha oversees her disparate quests, content to have brought these women together, their troubles far away for this short time. Occasionally, the old woman dozes, dreaming of the friends who have peopled her long and well-lived life.
This novel perfectly showcases Hassler's unique talent. Like Garrison Keillor of Lake Woebegon, Hassler is the undisputed muse of Minnesota. Quirky and wry, Hassler's seductive and charming characters offer his readers a welcome respite from the stresses of everyday life, a walk back in time, when conversations were held on porch swings and grandparents lived only a block away. Luan Gaines/2003.
Rating: 5
Summary: Welcome Back Home
Comment: I have read all of Jon Hassler's novels. He has the rare ability to write a good story about people you come to care about. In this novel he brings back many of the characters who were so prominent in his other novels - almost like a reunion of characters. For long time readers of his novels this is a visit back home to see how the family is getting along. For new readers of his work, I would suggest that you begin with his earlier work and build to this one. Specifically start with Staggerford, Simon's Night, A Green Journey and Dear James. Rookery Blues would also be a prerequisite to this novel. You won't be disappointed. I grew up and still live in the area that Mr. Hassler writes about. He was also my poetry teacher in my first year in college at Brainerd Junior College. For those of you who like to read about central Minnesota this is the real Lake Wobegone. Jon Hassler describes real people - don't miss out.
Rating: 4
Summary: Like attending a reunion in your old hometown.
Comment: No matter where you come from, Hassler's Staggerford feels like home, and his characters like the old friends (and nemeses) you probably grew up with. With an unerring eye for the universally mundane, and an ear for the commonplaces we all expect in conversations with old friends, Hassler brings Staggerford, Minnesota, to life during the "flood of the century," as the Badbattle River overflows and inundates the town one spring.
There's nothing like a good emergency to inspire Agatha McGee, the 80-year-old spinster who taught most of Staggerford at St. Isidore's School. Ignoring ill health, she takes charge among her neighbors and friends, inviting seven unlikely people to ride out the storm in her house on the highest land along the river. With warmth and great good humor, Hassler recreates their long-standing friendships and loyalties, along with the gossip, resentments, and long memories which make life in any small town a community activity.
For Hassler's long-time readers, this novel is like a reunion--everyone in the old gang, from all the previous novels, is here, older, perhaps, but still going strong. Beverly Bingham, the sad teenager who found refuge with Agatha in Hassler's first novel (Staggerford) returns as the mature mother of a schizophrenic son. Lolly Edwards, the radio gossip who held her own memorial service so that she could hear what people would say about her (The Dean's List) and her son, Leland, now President of Rookery State (Rookery Blues), are back, along with Fr. Frank Healy (North of Hope). Agatha's shy nephew Frank Lopat; her best friend, ditzy Lillian Kite, and her termagant daughter, Imogene; and Janet Raft Meers, the young woman who looks after her; and many others, continue their stories here, along with several new characters.
The characters are believable, the dialogue is pitch perfect, and the community dynamics show Hassler's sensitivity to and love for the subtleties of small town life. The behavior of the characters is completely consistent with their personalities as we know them, and their ability to remain individuals while also acting for the good of the community is one of Hassler's greatest achievements. Hassler is careful to explain past histories here so that new readers can enjoy the novel almost as much as devotees of the previous novels, but new readers are urged to start with one of the earlier novels first in order to enjoy this one and its characters more fully. This is a "grand finale" of a novel, one you don't want to reach too soon. Mary Whipple
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Title: Staggerford by Jon Hassler ISBN: 0345333756 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 12 July, 1986 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Underground Christmas by Jon Hassler, Charles J. Johnston ISBN: 1890434094 Publisher: Afton Historical Society Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 1998 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Good People . . . from an Author's Life by Jon Hassler ISBN: 0829416366 Publisher: Loyola Pr Pub. Date: August, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Grand Opening by Jon Hassler ISBN: 0345410173 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 27 August, 1996 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Green Journey by Jon Hassler ISBN: 0345410416 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 27 August, 1996 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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