“South of Home” by Rebecca Amiss

How can someone be so infuriatingly frustrating? That was the thought that pulsated in my head while I was reading the first chapters. Maggie is one of those main characters who make the reader’s blood boil – mainly, with indignation. But as you read on, you feel the deepest satisfaction of how the person – whom you already don’t see as fictional – evolves along with what happens to them.

Maggie O’Hanlon has it all. While her parents are busy building a grocery store empire, she spends her time dancing and browsing expensive shops. Maggie doesn’t have to think about the realities of life. She doesn’t have to work or to study, and frankly, she doesn’t have the slightest inclination to burden herself with either. She despises her parents for being so success- and profit-driven, but it doesn’t stop her from taking full advantage of the lifestyle it provides.

And then, Maggie crosses the line. Her laziness, lack of interest for anything substantial, and even disrespect for her parents weren’t enough to motivate her father to do something so his daughter could make something worthy with her life. Still, when her carelessness leads her into a situation that puts the grocery store empire at risk, Maggie’s dad wakes up and makes a decision that threatens to change Maggie’s life dramatically.

After Boston’s busy streets with sharply-dressed people going about their business, Maggie finds herself on the dusty plantation in Savannah, Georgia. No more clothes shopping, cocktail drinking, or dancing. From now on and for the unforeseeable future, her life will consist of working on a pecan farm and cleaning a huge house. Maggie is so outraged by being sent into exile that she doesn’t notice how special the person she has to live with is. But this is about to change.

I applaud the author for creating one of the most lovable and kind characters. Flora Alcott is someone you’d be over the moon to have around in real life. Her unwavering kindness and the ability to see through people to their very core made me want to find myself in her kitchen or on the porch, drinking tea and eating her trademark pecan bread.

Although overall the book has a cosy, wrapping-you-in-a-soft-blanket feel, there are moments that will make the readers’ eyes water. The devastating news she receives from home helps Maggie start the process of turning into a better person. And later on, she has to face the realities of life after all.

“South of Home” by Rebecca Amiss is a wonderful feel-good story with all the right ingredients. It will make you smile, shed a tear or two, remember your own experiences – and at times, want to take the main character by the shoulders and shake her. How can someone be so… But I’d better not spoil the pleasure for you. Read Maggie’s story, and you’ll see everything yourself.