'Mater Biscuit: A Homegrown Novel
Imogene Lavender thinks she's a tomato. With her senile mother on one side and her precocious grandson on the other, Imo is sandwiched between two needy generations like a " 'mater in a biscuit." Add to the household one horridly headstrong teenage daughter and a helpful but moody teenage niece, subtract any husbands or other family assistance, and it all adds up to a cantankerous caregiving catastrophe. When Mama Jewell is expelled from the nursing home, Imo is saddled with more than her mother's suitcases. She's been carrying around a trunkful of emotional baggage of her own for years, the result of physical and psychological abuse she once suffered at her mother's hands. Putting the past behind her to find peace in the here-and-now is Imo's greatest challenge, one she faces with the help of a dear friend and a productive garden. In this touching sequel toTruelove & Homegrown Tomatoes(2001), Cannon again draws a sweetly unassuming portrait of a strong southern woman sustained by faith, friendship, and family.Carol HaggasCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved