As Hot as It Was You Ought to Thank Me: A Novel
by Nanci Kincaid
I’m placing this novel in Southern fiction due more to a sense of feeling than absolute geography. Sure, Florida is certainly “south” but whether it is in the South or not is a matter of some debate. For our purposes, however, Pinetta, Florida, the setting for this, Kincaid’s fourth, is definitely a place where the mosquitos are as big as the lies, the air is as thick as the history, and family often includes people well outside of the bloodlines.
Berry Jackson is 13 and she wants to be pretty more than anything. She is careful to qualify that her desire is not out of vanity but rather pragmatism; as anyone from a small town can tell you, the pretty girls get taken seriously and seem hyper real in a way that us ordinary girls never seem to accomplish. Being pretty is a way to attract the attention of the boys, sure, but more importantly, it is a way to be seen by everyone, including your own family. During this long, hot summer, Berry wants to be real and she is beginning to realize that the world is full of mystery, secrets, and layers she never could have imagined. When a tornado destroys the small town, Berry gets her first glimpse at the outside world in the form of a chain gang that comes to help rebuild the school. With her father missing– along with the town beauty– Berry pines for a strong male figure in her life, and the inhabitants of her small town simply do not fit the bill. Between corrupt ministers, trigger-happy hicks, and boys slowly and painfully becoming men, there really are not that many role models. But the chain gang brings more than just relief from the storm; it brings fresh blood in the form of fast-talking prisoner, Raymond. As her family deals with rumors and innuendo, Berry begins to face her own budding sexuality, and when she wins the attention of Raymond, she finds that love and sex are more complicated than she had imagined. Will Berry and Pinetta survive the sultry, sticky summer?
Berry is, simply put, a gem. She is Scout, Daisy Fay, and more, all rolled into one. Her observations concerning the quirky inhabitants of Pinetta are insightful, funny, and naive, often all at once. As she struggles to come to terms with her father’s betrayal and the destruction of her town, Berry begins to find a voice all her own. As Hot… is a pleasure in the vein of Fannie Flagg, Michael Lee West, and Lesley Kagen.
4 out of 5!
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You are a very smart person!