THE BOOK FAIR

Review:

Reana Mae, raised in West Virginia by her dysfunctional parents, Bobby Joe and Jolene, is the cousin of Bethany Marie, who is raised in Indiana and lives with her parents, Jimmy and Helen, and her three sisters, Nancy, Melinda and Tracy.  Jimmy and Helen, both from Coal River West Virginia, return home to visit every summer, their four daughters in tow.  Bethany tells her family’s story: one of love, cruelty, incest and forgiveness.

 

Bethany describes Reana, as her true sister.  Unlike her older sisters, Bethany, seven years old, looks forward to the time her family spends in Coal River.  As the years pass, though she still enjoys seeing her extended family, she also begins to see important behavioral differences in the families.

 

Years later, Reana comes to live with her cousins.  As Reana struggles to adjust and make a life for herself, Tracy will have none of it.  Deeply resenting what she feels as Reana’s intrusion into their lives, Tracy takes revenge on her and Bethany.  However, Tracy fails to estimate that Reana can also take revenge.

 

Secrets abound in this tall, stereotypical tale of a Southern family.