Book: Almost Heaven
Author: Susan X.
Meagher
Publisher: Brisk
Press
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| Any given Sunday. |
I was raised in a small, non-descript town
that was more southern than it was northern. While my ancestors were all Moravians, my siblings and I
were raised in a non-denominational protestant church because my grandmother,
who was from a different small, non-descript town in another state, had never
heard of the Moravians.
For the record, the Moravian Church puts an enormous emphasis on
basic religious principles in the form of faith and practice—for more than 500
years, the only stated requirement for entrance into Heaven is show up with a
covered dish.
But I digress.
As a kid, I would always sit in the back row
of the church, a four-seater pew, with my grandmother, and with Florence and
Stuart Woods. Without fail, another little old lady named Mary Magdalene would
sit directly in front of us. Mary
was what you’d call “an eclectic.”
She was born in my hometown, but married a rich man and moved to the
city. When her husband passed away
in 1966, she retired and moved back home.
Mary’s last name was Krichbaum—and she was loaded.
 |
| Mmmm, herbicide |
Of course, back then and in that place, the definition of “loaded”
was that your car had four matching hubcaps, and your drinking water didn’t
taste like Atrazine.
In all seriousness, Mary loved the finer
things in life—from her late model Cadillac, to her silver tea service and her
Italian leather, little-old-lady pumps. Of course, often “the finer things”
included her fox stole. And what made
Mary’s fox stole memorable was that it had about 18 beady little eyes that
stared right at me throughout some of the holiest moments of my life.
Still, Mary was a character, and wasn’t like
any other woman in my hometown.
Mary had plenty of opinions about plenty of things, and she wasn’t
afraid to state any one of them out loud.
I distinctly remember one blustery, winter morning as we all filed out
onto the front steps after yet another sermon on Agape love, Mary proclaimed in
her gravelly smoker’s voice that what we all needed was “a little Southern
Comfort.”
Even as an 8-year old in a dry county, I somehow knew she wasn’t
talking about warmer temperatures.…
 |
| Not Mary Magdalene's fox stole. |
No, Mary Magdalene’s wealth and outspoken
personality set her apart from everyone else in town, but she fit in just fine
because no matter how long she had been away from it, she was of it. Yet, had someone come into town to help feed and clothe
those who barely made ends meet or tried to make the community a better place,
they would have been summarily shunned because they were considered an
“outsider.”
It’s part of the logically illogical hierarchy of prejudice in
small communities that’s a bit like dinosaur mentality—only with more staying
power.
Susan X. Meagher’s latest offering, Almost Heaven, takes on life in a small,
insular community and shows that as much as things change, they stay the
same. Cody Keaton hails from the
mountain grotto of Ramp, West Virginia.
She’s from a long line of mountain people, and isn’t used to taking more
than she needs or needing more than she has. A chance good deed—trying to return a lost one-dollar bill—leads
her to an unexpected and surprisingly unwanted mega lottery win. Cody is a smart woman, and even though
she doesn’t know how banks work, she knows she needs to protect all that
money.
Enter one Maddie Osborne, the up-and-coming
Branch Manager of Appalachian States Bank. Maddie quickly realizes that Cody doesn’t know the first
thing about money or financial management, and works hard to gain her trust and
offer ideas to help keep Cody protected.
But, Cody wants to help her large, extended family have the things they
need—like food, medicine, guns, and clothes. But the more she gives, the more they expect.
Maddie has never had much place in her life
for the great outdoors, but as her friendship with Cody deepens, she finds
herself appreciating things like fishing and hiking—especially fishing and
hiking with Cody Keaton. Before
long, their relationship becomes physical. And even though Maddie can’t wait
until she gets a new job in a civilized city like New York or San Francisco,
she finds herself falling in love with Cody. But, one thing Cody is very good at is not allowing herself
to dream of things she can’t have, and she knows absolutely that Maddie will
leave when the first civilized offer comes in…people like Maddie want more than
the hillbillies in Ramp can offer.
Despite their glaring differences, Maddie and
Cody are good together. But, can
Maddie walk away from her lifelong dream of the Big City and be happy on a
mountainside? And can Cody give up the independence and solitude that has
shaped her Spartan life, and share everything with Maddie?
In so many ways, Almost Heaven is a textbook example of a Susan X. Meagher novel—the
premise is unique and interesting. The storytelling is patient and fully
developed. And the characters have a distinct visual and literary appeal.
Beyond the expected however, is a wealth of
riches that bring this story to life.
Among them, the research into the cultural,
historic, and scenic aspects of West Virginia, and Ramp in particular, is
stellar and lends an air of authenticity to the lives of the women and men who
populate this story. And the depiction of life in a small and poor, rural
community is spot-on—at times majestic, and at times painfully dispirited.
Ms. Meagher skillfully draws two strong and
independent protagonists, with seemingly little in common, other than a bunch
of dead presidents. However, their relationship manages to be both instant and slow to develop—and the real depth
comes as each learns through the other how to step outside of their safe
familiar. Additionally, the author takes great pains to detail the deep and
wide roots of Cody’s family tree, which in turn, lends credence to Cody’s on-going
struggle to choose between blood and good sense.
One aspect of the story that I found to be
amazingly authentic is Cody’s experience of coming out to her hillbilly
family. In this instance, none of
them were thrilled—but none of them were surprised either. Outside of a few
mentions that she could find a good man—and being quoted a few things that
people want in the Bible but that aren’t really there—her family “accepted” it,
and went on with their lives.
This is a classic example of the logically illogical hierarchy of
prejudice in small communities that is so hard to explain to people who have
never had to consider the list of alternative uses for Sears catalogs or
corncobs.
I’ll admit that I always love to get my hands around a new
Susan X. Meagher novel, and Almost Heaven
didn’t disappoint. While some
readers might not cotton to the more rural tone and setting of this story, I absolutely
loved the rustic setting, the characters, and the sensibilities that I
recognized from my youth—and the message that, sometimes, less really is
more.
Cody Keaton’s life changed forever when she
won the lottery, but the most valuable things the money had to offer were all
those things the money couldn’t buy.
It was a sober reminder for me to stop and appreciate the most important
things in my life. For a solid
book that entertained me for hours, I’m giving Almost Heaven a 5.0 on the Rainbow Scale. Because it made me hug the stuffing out of my wife and my
pets, it get’s another 0.1.
