Eat, Drink, and Be From Mississippi; A Review

I'm a sucker for good character development. If an author hasn't truly mastered the art of character development I quickly get bored with their books. But give me fully developed characters....multi-dimensional characters...and I'm hooked. I'll read that book in a day or two and LOVE every minute of it.

Nanci Kincaid is one author who has truly mastered the art of character development. The Hachette Group recently provided me with a copy of Ms. Kincaid's newest work Eat, Drink, and Be From Mississippi. I was BLOWN away. I quickly fell in love with the main characters and was drawn into their world for a few days. The main character is a man named Truely, who is first introduced as a typical southern teenage boy. We're quickly brought up to speed as he enters adulthood and faces many trials and setbacks along the way.

The main secondary character is Truely's sister Courtney. Both Truely and Courtney were raised in rural Mississippi, but escaped to California after high school. As a Southerner myself, I was pleased to see that the character's Southern heritage was accurately described...it wasn't made fun of; it wasn't over the top. The third main character is introduced somewhat late in the story...a troubled urban teen named Arnold. Again, Ms. Kincaid shines in her ability to accurately portray the nuances of an urban, inner city youth...in dialect, attire, and attitude. Here's a brief description of the story:

Truely Noonan is the quintessential Southern boy made good. Like his older sister, Courtney, Truely left behind the slow, sweet life of Mississippi for jet-set San Francisco, where he earned a fortune as an Internet entrepreneur. Courtney and Truely each find happy marriages--until, as if cursed by success, those marriages start to crumble. Then their lives are interrupted by an unexpected stranger--a troubled teenager named Arnold, garrulous, charming, thuggishly dressed, and determined to move in to their world. Arnold turns their lives upside down--and in the process this unlikely trio becomes the family that each had been searching for. In the best Southern fiction tradition, Kincaid has brought us an inspiring story about finding the way home.

If you're a big fan of good character development, like I am, I HIGHLY recommend this book. Or if you have a soft spot for Southern fiction...this book will do it for you! You can read an excerpt via the box below, then go get your own copy of Eat, Drink, and Be From Mississippi today!