Total Page : 72
Publisher : SparkNotes
Publication Date : 2002 07 15
>> A beautiful story Worth reading Reviewd by the Book Junkie
The Bean Trees is such a beautiful story It is both elegant and engaging and when I finished I felt richer for having read it The story itself is interesting and the characters most notably Taylor Greer and her de facto daughter Turtle are round and real The opening lines are memorable for their unexpected humor I have been afraid of putting air in a tire ever since I saw a tractor tire blow up and throw Newt Hardbine s father over the top of the Standard Oil Sign I m not lying He got stuck up there
Marietta Greer leaves small town Kentucky to escape the possibility of ending up like all her classmates barefoot pregnant and trapped She promises herself that she won t end up with a baby and that she ll make something of herself She will be independent Well she ends up with someone else s baby and the baby makes something of her And she doesn t quite make independent she has to learn that she has to depend on others sometimes and she has to learn whom to depend on
Marietta starts off by getting in her jalopy and heading west On the trip she changes her name to Taylor after the town where she finally runs out of gas Taylorville is also where she picks up Turtle her baby A Cherokee woman hands the girl to Taylor the woman says that the child is in danger and has already been hurt and she can t care for her So Taylor takes the baby a responsibility she has no idea how to deal with and continues on her trip
Taylor and her newly acquired daughter finally light in Tucson There Taylor faces lessons she set out to escape how to be a mother how to be friends and accept friendship how to be a family and the importance of putting down roots Taylor finds friends in unexpected places including a local used tire shop where serendipity leads her not only to new tires but to a job and a friend and mentor in the owner Mattie She also finds support and friendship in her roommate Lou Ann another new mother struggling to find her role in the world When Taylor learns that she ll have to fight to keep Turtle for whom she now feels like a true mother Mattie Lou Ann and the others she s befriended in Tucson are by her side
The Bean Trees grabbed me from the first page and kept me intrigued until the end I loved the language the people and the story It was definitely worth reading
>> The Bean Tree
This book was shipped to me quickly mailing package in good shape and the book was a very interesting read I will order more books from Amazon
>> Easy reading
I was surprised that the pages were not clean cut at the outside edge Perhaps the rough finish was supposed to justify the 17 paper back price but I just found it a nuisance because it slowed down page turning Only half way through the book It s okay easy reading and a sweet story but not nearly as interesting or complicated as The Poisonwood Bible by the same authoress
