Thursday, March 23, 2017

The Pecan Man - #BookBeginnings on Friday and The #Friday56

If you enjoyed Driving Miss Daisy, The Help, or the Miss Julia series, then you'll definitely like The Pecan Man. Told in the voice of an 82-year-old woman, the author paints a vivid portrait of life in small-town Florida and the realities of race relations in parts of the South. The story is told with warmth and humor, and the author doesn't preach. 

The Pecan Man is beautifully written and free of grammatical and other errors, which I always appreciate. I'm delighted to feature Cassie Dandridge Selleck and other indie authors on my blog.

Book Beginning:
In the summer of 1976, the year of our Bicentennial, preparations for the Fourth of July were in full force. Flags hung from the eaves of every house along this stretch of Main Street. The neighborhood women were even busier than usual. I watched them come and go from a rocking chair on my own front porch.

Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
The inside walls were covered with wood paneling. A large brown gas heater burned noisily at one end of the room and a picture of The Last Supper hung wearily over a deep red couch at the other end.

Genre: Literary Fiction
Book Length: 146 Pages
Amazon Link: The Pecan Man 
Author Website/Blog:  Cassie Dandridge Selleck

Read Chapter One from Selleck's latest book What Matters in Mayhew HERE. 

Synopsis from Goodreads:
The Pecan Man is a work of Southern fiction whose first chapter was the First Place winner of the 2006 CNW/FFWA Florida State Writing Competition in the Unpublished Novel category. In the summer of 1976, recently widowed and childless, Ora Lee Beckworth hires a homeless old black man to mow her lawn. The neighborhood children call him the Pee-can Man; their mothers call them inside whenever he appears. When the police chief's son is found stabbed to death near his camp, the man Ora knows as Eddie is arrested and charged with murder. Twenty-five years later, Ora sets out to tell the truth about the Pecan Man. In narrating her story, Ora discovers more truth about herself than she could ever have imagined. This novel has been described as To Kill a Mockingbird meets The Help.

                

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56.
Click HERE to connect to other Book Beginnings posts (sponsored by Rose City Reads) 
Click HERE to join other Friday 56 bloggers (sponsored by Freda's Voice)


Twitter: @SandyNachlinger
Facebook: sandy.nachlinger

25 comments:

  1. I am adding this one to my TBR right now! This book sounds wonderful and you had me with Driving Miss Daisy. Thanks for sharing this one. :)

    My BB

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    1. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did. I'm sure you will!

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  2. Oh, I love the sound of this one. Older characters are my new favorites...maybe not so new.

    Thanks for sharing. Here's mine: “PERSONS UNKNOWN”

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  3. Hi, Sandy! What a lovely post to start my day. I'm sitting on my porch overlooking the Suwannee River where I am working on the sequel to The Pecan Man. This little novel was the first I published and it has turned out to be far more than I ever imagined. I'll be in Arkansas in June because their state library chose it as their common reader for the year, and film rights have been optioned, and work is in progress on the screenplay. I've said all along that my little novel has been marketed by its readers. I am blessed to Skype with 2-3 book clubs a week reading this little thing. It is a writer's dream...especially one so late in life. Thanks so much for sharing it with your readers. I feel blessed and grateful. Happy to answer any questions from readers, too.

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    1. Thanks so much for stopping by, Cassie. I'll be watching for the sequel to The Pecan Man.

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  4. Kudos for supporting Indie authors. The first paragraph really sets the scene.

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    1. I've discovered a bunch of excellent indie authors and enjoy supporting them.

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  5. I remember the summer 1976. The parades, the festivals, the speeches. I wonder at the short length of the book, or should I call it a novella?
    My Friday Quotes

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    1. I remember that summer, too. The book is a little shorter than my usual reads, but the story is complete and the characters are well-developed.

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  6. I enjoyed the story a lot, and I'm delighted to hear that the book is being optioned for a screenplay. I'm also looking forward to the sequel.

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  7. Sounds WONDERFUL!!!

    Love books set in the South and stories told by our wonderful older citizens.

    Thanks for sharing and for stopping by my blog.

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  8. Wow--the Pecan Man sounds great!

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  9. This sounds great! I love that the author doesn't preach and that beginning is so descriptive. I'll have to look for this one.

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  10. This sounds interesting. I think I will have to check it out. Thanks for sharing. Here is mine
    http://totallyaddictedtoreading.blogspot.com/2017/03/friday-memes-book-beginnings-and-friday_24.html

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  11. I'm a southern gal and always drawn to literature that takes place here. On the other side of ? (LOL not going to say how old I am) I bet I'd connect with the characters too.

    My Friday 56 from Beautiful Broken Girls

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    1. I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, and I share your love of stories set in the South. This is a good one.

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  12. I liked both of those - I might want to try this one then! :)

    Lauren @ Always Me

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  13. I really like the terminology "hung wearily." I hope you enjoy your weekend!

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  14. Sounds like a wonderful book. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Thanks for the visit.

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  15. I think this sounds really good, with the exception of it being set in the 70's. LOL Being a child - young teen in the 70's, it was the ugliest decade ever! But I do remember the racial issues of that time as well. Thanks for visiting my blog! I'd love if your readers would too . . . http://tinyurl.com/LisaKsBookReviewsSAIJK

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  16. Being born in '76, the beginning pulled at me. :-) Happy weekend!

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  17. Sounds interesting. Need to look into this one.

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