Velva Jean Learns To Drive and Velva Jean Learns To Fly by Jennifer Niven are two fine modern literary works that I have just completed reading. I am a big fan of fiction and tend toward mysteries but find a lot of pleasure in reading more literary works and non-fiction at times. Niven’s novels were an incredible treat!
Her theme is largely sexist, and I say that with the utmost respect in a positive way. She chronicles the life of a young girl living in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina in the Great Depression era. Life in Alluvial is confined by the ring of mountains surrounding her, by the superstitions of the mountain folk, and by the assumptions of a culture that dictates what a woman’s role in life should be. Velva Jean is just ten when she finds Jesus and is baptized in the Three Gum River. Her dreams and her feisty nature are at war with God and with the limitation of life laid out before her.
I guarantee you that you will get a lump in your throat as often reading these books as you will get angry at the abuses perpetrated and stereotypes that are manifested in the characters. For a true learning experience about what the women’s lib movement of the 60s really was about when it began in the 40s, take the time to read these novels. You won’t regret it. I can’t wait to read her latest in the Velva Jean series called Becoming Clementine.
--Greg
Her theme is largely sexist, and I say that with the utmost respect in a positive way. She chronicles the life of a young girl living in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina in the Great Depression era. Life in Alluvial is confined by the ring of mountains surrounding her, by the superstitions of the mountain folk, and by the assumptions of a culture that dictates what a woman’s role in life should be. Velva Jean is just ten when she finds Jesus and is baptized in the Three Gum River. Her dreams and her feisty nature are at war with God and with the limitation of life laid out before her.
I guarantee you that you will get a lump in your throat as often reading these books as you will get angry at the abuses perpetrated and stereotypes that are manifested in the characters. For a true learning experience about what the women’s lib movement of the 60s really was about when it began in the 40s, take the time to read these novels. You won’t regret it. I can’t wait to read her latest in the Velva Jean series called Becoming Clementine.
--Greg
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