MARVA COPE
Jackson’s Pond, Texas Series #4
by
TEDDY JONES
Rural Fiction / Small Town Texas / Literary Fiction
Publisher: MidTown Publishing
Date of Publication: February 5, 2023
Number of Pages: 281 pages
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A stranger comes to Jackson’s Pond and everything changes.
Marva Cope, the fourth novel in the Jackson’s Pond, Texas Series, brings new elements to the story of the small town in the Texas Panhandle.
Marva arrives as the new postmaster in 2017. She brings with her a lifetime of hesitancy to open herself to others. It is here, while living with her elder Aunt Violet, that she comes to appreciate the value of true friendships. With new relationships, long walks, and conversations with herself, she comes to terms with her difficult past...the loss of a beloved teenaged brother in a tragic farm accident, her father’s death from a broken heart, and a distant mother who had no love for the young teenager.
Troubled teenage years followed as a flawed young man lures her to New Mexico, then left her alone with their newborn daughter. With her newfound courage of trusting others as friends, she reconnects with her daughter and a college dorm-mate she had deserted in years past. In Jackson’s Pond, she finds the ability to consider what to do with the rest of her life.
PRAISE FOR MARVA COPE:
There is so much to admire in this wise and luminous novel. Marva Cope is written with abiding tenderness and compassion. -- John Dufresne, author of Storyville
The novel Marva Cope is a rarity— an artfully told “coming of age” story that morphs into a “getting on with life” saga that, in the end, celebrates the simple joys of human connection. -- Martha Burns, author of Blind Eye
My Review:
Marva Cope is the story of the titular heroine as she progresses through life. From her young adulthood to motherhood and beyond, her struggles with family, friendship and love are on display in this novel. At first I found the time jumps a bit difficult to follow, but it gradually became easier as the book went on. Marva is a very interesting heroine. She struggles a lot with human interaction and does her best to handle her relationship given the emotional scars she has from her youth.
This isn't the type of book that I usually read. I'm not much of a contemporary drama/contemporary fiction sort of person. I tend to lean more toward mysteries, fantasy, and science fiction, but I found Marva Cope to be very refreshing from my norm. It was a fun change of pace that let me take a few moments to visit New Mexico and parts of Texas for a little while. I haven't read previous books in the Jackson's Pond, Texas series, so this is my introduction to the town. As a result I don't really know the full way this book connects to the others outside of location. I'm very curious about where connections lie and the mythology of this small Texas town, but Marva Cope can definitely be read as a standalone.
All in all I enjoyed Marva Cope and I'd definitely be interested in trying one of the other Jackson's Pond, Texas series books to learn more about the town and its inhabitants. It's a relaxing read full of relatable human drama and family relationship turmoil that I would recommend to readers who like small towns and women's life journeys. I give Marva Cope a Lone Star rating of ✯✯✯✯ stars.
Although her fiction tends to be set in West Texas, her characters’ lives embody issues not bounded by geography of any particular region. Families and loners; communities in flux; people struggling, others successful; some folks satisfied in solitude and others yearning for connection populate her work. And they all have in common that they are more human than otherwise.
Jones grew up in a small Texas town, Iowa Park. Earlier she worked as a nurse, a nurse educator, a nursing college administrator, and as a nurse practitioner in Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico. For the past twenty years, she and her husband have lived in the rural West Texas Panhandle where he farms and she writes.
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ONE WINNER:
A set of all 4 Jackson’s Pond, Texas books, a copy of Nowhere Near,
and a $25 Amazon gift card.
(US only; ends midnight, CDT, 3/17/23)
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03/08/23 |
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03/09/23 |
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03/14/23 |
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Sometimes reading outside our comfort zones makes us realize our comfort zones are bigger than we thought! I love this insightful review (and can't wait to read Marva Cope). Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
ReplyDeletethank you for your thoughts. I am not a contemporary reader also. I have not read too many books that span so many years. This sounds interesting.
ReplyDelete