Fiction Review: Whistling Past the Graveyard

Book By Book

My neighborhood book group’s selection for February was Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall. I really enjoyed this coming-of-age story about a unique, healing relationship between a white girl and a Black woman in 1963. It was especially good on audio.

Nine-year-old Starla lives in a small town in southern Mississippi with her grandmother, Mamie. Starla’s dad works on an oil rig, so he’s usually away, and her mom left when Starla was just three years old. She lives in Nashville now, where Starla is certain she’s living her dream of becoming a famous singer. Mamie is very strict with Starla and doesn’t even seem to like her much; she’s always yelling at her that she’s just like her mother. Starla is an impulsive little girl who is often in trouble, but this time, she thinks Mamie may just make good on her threat to send her to reform school. On the fourth of July, Starla runs away from home, intent on walking to Nashville to live with her mother. That night, walking along a lonely country road at dusk, Starla is fortunate to be picked up by a kind Black woman named Eula, with a white baby named James in a basket on the floor of the passenger seat. Eula and Starla are each in trouble and emotionally wounded in their own ways. Their meeting is a lucky moment for them both, though they don’t know it yet. As the unusual threesome makes their way to Nashville, they encounter challenges and eye-opening experiences that will change their lives forever.

Crandall provides a twisty plot with plenty of action that is constantly surprising. What makes this novel really special, though, is Starla’s unique voice as narrator, as seen from from the opening paragraph:

“My grandmother says she prays for me every day. Which was funny, because I’d only ever heard Mamie pray, “Dear, Lord, give me strength.” That sure sounded like a prayer for herself–and Mrs. Knopp in Sunday school always said our prayers should only ask for things for others. Once, I made the mistake of saying that out loud to Mamie and got slapped into next Tuesday for my sassy mouth. My mouth always worked a whole lot faster than my good sense.”

Just from those opening sentences, you can see Starla’s precocious mind (and open personality), the sense of humor in the book, and the amusing Southern phrases sprinkled throughout that brings the setting to life. All of that comes through even more in the audio, narrated by Amy Rubinate, which was completely immersive (sample). It’s a highly entertaining book, but that doesn’t take away from the serious issues tackled throughout this story, including missing parents, domestic abuse, and serious racism. All of this is seen through Starla’s very observant–but naive–point of view. My book group had plenty to discuss, and it was one of those books that grows even better with discussion. Starla is a one-of-a-kind narrator, and her special relationship with Eula is one I won’t soon forget. I loved listening to this novel, and I am missing both Starla and Eula now. It’s that kind of book.

336 pages, Gallery Books

Dreamscape Media

This book fits in the following 2024 Reading Challenges:

Monthly Motif – February – “The Perfect Pair” – Starla and Eula fit this theme perfectly!

Alphabet Soup Challenge – W

Diversity Challenge

Literary Escapes Challenge – Mississippi

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Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too).

Print and e-book from Amazon.

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