The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg ~ Book Review

Sookie Poole finally has a moment to herself after planning four weddings for  3 daughters in under 2 years.  She is exhausted and weddinged out.  Having nothing to do except take something out for supper is making her very happy indeed.  Married to a successful dentist, she dreams of maybe travelling with her husband.  But she has Lenore, her mother, to consider.  Lenore is well known in their hometown of Point Clear, Alabama by everyone, and being on or president of several committees she is adored and looked up to by most people but having her for a mother Sookie has other thoughts.  She has found her quite overbearing and bossy and has spent her life trying to please Lenore and feeling like she can never live up to the expectations put upon her by Lenore.  Now with Lenore in her 80's, Sookie must deal with all the details of taking care of her mom though Lenore bucks her every step of the way.  One day while handling her mom's mail, Sookie makes a shocking discovery that puts her in a tailspin and makes her wonder who she really is.  Sookie finds herself compelled to seek answers but will she like what finds.  Her search takes her back to the Midwest and to Texas to a free-spirited lady named Fritzi, who was a wing walker and flew planes for the U.S. and ran an all-girl's filling station while the men were away at war.  As Sookie learns Fritzi's story she finds inspiration for her own life.

I found this book quite enjoyable.  The story of Fritzi and Sookie are intertwined until it reaches a very satisfying ending.  The author is a wonderful story teller and I was drawn in from the beginning.  I especially liked all the history of the women flyers from the second world war who flew planes for the U.S. but who's story has not really been told.  In Fritzi's story we also read between the lines of stories and the challenges of countless women who had to pick up the pieces and take on jobs they never imagined as more and more of the men were shipped overseas.  It was a very interesting look into American life during the war.  The characters are real and honest, even Lenore, whom I sometimes wanted to shake.  I was also drawn to Sookie as her whole world is turned upside down with just one letter and everything she knows about herself is now called into question.  I gave this story a 9.5/10