GREAT READS

I Still Dream About You

Fannie Flagg.

Life doesn't always turn out the way we plan it. At sixty years old, Maggie Fortenberry, a former Miss Alabama with some skeletons in her closet, finds herself unhappy with how her life has turned out. She is still single, one of her closest friends has died, and instead of living where she has always wanted to, she is selling that dream to others as a real estate agent in a bad market. Depressed, she intends to end it all, but things keep popping up that need her attention before she can leave life with a clear conscience. Will she ever get to follow through with her plan?

Despite the heavy topic of suicide, this is really a light read. There are plenty of laughs. Fannie Flagg, who showed us her talent as a natural storyteller in Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, uses the same technique, going between the present and the past to not only tell Maggie's story, but also tell another tale from the past. Flagg's combination of memorable characters, humor, and mystery make her book easy to pick up and hard to put down.

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