My take on: gods in Alabama

Arlene Fleet made a deal with God, she vowed never to return to Possett, Alabama. After graduating high school in 1987, Arlene left her hometown on the hopes that God would keep her secret. She vowed to stop lying. To stop messing around with boys, all in hopes of God keeping her safe from her deadly secret. For ten years she’s been avoiding her friends and family. But now, her past shows up on her Chicago doorstep.


To make matters worse, Arlene’s African-American boyfriend Burr wants to meet her conservative white family. Her stern Aunt Florence has been trying for years to get Arlene to come back. According to Aunt Florence, Arlene’s mother has been on her death bed for nine years. Her mother is borderline crazy and her “good girl” cousin Clarice did all the right things, got married and had children.

At age 15, Arlene’s life changed forever when she killed Jim Beverly her sophomore year in high school. Back then Arlene was a wild promiscuous teenager, but after that tumultuous night she made her deal with God. The deal is now off. Now living in Chicago, a friend from Arlene’s past starts asking questions. Questions that could destroy her life. After ten years of running, Arlene must now go home and face her past.

I came to his book purely by accident. I was looking for some books to add to my shelf. At the time it had been so long since I read a book. I was getting mad at myself for getting away from reading. I let my job and the TV get in the way of my love of reading. So I just did a basic search under women’s fiction on Barnes and Noble.com. After sifting through pages and pages of books I read the summary for Gods in Alabama. Usually if the summary sounds interesting and there are good reader comments on the book, I buy it. I found Jackson’s writing very straight forward and full of sassy humor. It’s one of those books that can be read in a day, but I’ll admit it took me about two weeks. Why? I let myself get distracted by the world of Jack Bauer and how the passengers of Oceanic 815 will get rescued. I made a promise to rededicate myself to love of reading. Hopefully you all can help me with that!