Dying of the Light by Robert Goolrick

True Southern gothic-you can smell the heavy magnolia and feel the oppressive heat as you watch this detached family try to keep their social standing and preserve their family home. Robert Goolrick loves to play with his readers and while this story starts off with a slow and easy ramble, it finishes with a smack-you-in-your-face ending that will leave you reeling. We begin with the poor debutante who marries up and survives an uneasy marriage to a cad, produces the golden boy heir and then falls apart again trying to keep it all together with no money. The language and setting made me think that Zelda Fitzgerald would show up on the doorstep any minute. Mix up a pitcher of mimosas and settle into the rocking chair on the porch- this is one hot historical shocker.