Lynn York, The Sweet Life

The Sweet Life

Lynn York

Plume, Mar 2007, $14.00

ISBN: 0452288223

In 1988, in Swan's Knob, North Carolina, Wilma and Roy Swan continue to behave like youthful newlyweds though they are much older and have been married for eight years. Life is good for this couple as the PIANO TEACHER and the grapevine farmer share what most people envy: a strong, loving relationship.

However, the dynamics abruptly change when Sarah, Wilma's daughter from a previous marriage, begs her to watch her teenage offspring Starling as she travels in the Far East. Reluctantly Wilma agrees to take in her granddaughter; not realizing that when she acquiesces, Star's father Harper will also come to town. A con artist, Harper persuades Roy to let him use the farm as the setting for a small bluegrass festival starring drunken has-been Delrina Kay. Wilma objects, especially when she learns that Harper is thinking of a country and western 1980s Woodstock, but soon has a different crisis to deal with when Roy suffers a debilitating stroke that leaves him near-death in a comatose state. When Delrina and Harper go on a wine binge, they visit Roy who regains consciousness while they serenade him.

The second Swan family drama starring a delightful, older couple is an interesting look at small-town southern life at the end of the Reagan era. The characters are cleverly drawn, especially the beleaguered Wilma whose lament has to be a family member in need is a pest - that is before Roy's stroke brings home the mortality of their love for one another. Though many of the issues brought forth by the strong secondary cast are left unresolved as if plans are for a next generation sequel, fans of family dramas with fully drawn protagonists will enjoy Lynn York's latest concerto.

Harriet Klausner