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Contemporary
Fiction
by Lisa Sampson
Tiger Lillie
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Tiger Lillie is
a wonderfully fresh and lively novel detailing the life and
loves of Lillie Bauer - wedding coordinator extrodinaire.
The characters are definitely memorable and unapolegetic about
their humanness. They are an unlikely cast of characters who
come together in a brilliant comarderie and friendship. This
novel is somewhat reminiscient of another very "real"
novel, Blue Like Jazz. When I say "real" I mean
that there is the lack of pretentiousness or drama about characters
who are "larger than life" or unrealistically too
perfect. There is nothing perfect about each of the characters
in this novel, except that they are perfectly human. The main
character is in fact self-described as over weight but she
doesn't spend the entire novel spurning chocolate and munching
on carrots in order to win a man. The fact that her favourite
colour is orange tells a great deal about her personality.
It is her realness or genuineness that attracts the man in
the end. Isn't that what we all want? To be known and loved
for who we are? Not who we want to be or think we should
be, but who we really are - quirks and warts included.
The supporting characters,
Teddy (the character we never meet but learn about - the original
one who loved Lillie for who she was so many years ago), Pleasance-the
efferescent, eccentric african-american designer, Cristoff
- the decidedly gay florist who is Lillie's best friend, Grandma
Erzsebet - the strong, Hungarian matriarch who gives Lillie
her strength, Tacy - the fragile little sister who needs rescuing
from her abusive husband, Rawlins - the abusive husband you
love to detest, Gordon - the man who wins Lillie's heart and
is no knight in shining armour except that he loves Lillie.
They all make up an extraordinary cast of characters that
add flavour and depth to this book and make it real.
My only contention is that
the novel almost appears to be trying to win a "politically
correct award" for including every downtrodden set of
people possible - the black woman, the gay man, the abused
woman, the abducted boy, etc. The Hungarian family was a bit
of a suprise - a Jewish one would have made the downtrodden
theory almost perfect. However, having said that I think it
is rather a glimpse of our varied and real relationships in
this modern day and age where a Christian woman can be friends
with a gay man, where a black woman is seen as a strong and
creative force; where being overweight and quirky is perfectly
normal and more than that - attractive.
I applaud Lisa Sampson for
this amazing book! Get yourself a copy and delight yourself
in this novel like I did. You'll be glad you did!
Other Books by
Lisa Sampson
Coming June,
2005:
Club
Sandwich
(no picture available yet)
The Living
End
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Amazon.com
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to buy from Amazon.ca
Songbird
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Amazon.com
Click here
to buy from Amazon.ca
The Church
Ladies
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amazon.com
Click
here
to buy from amazon.ca
Women's Intuition
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Amazon.com
Click
here
to buy from Amazon.ca
Crimson Skies
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Amazon.com
Click
here
to buy from Amazon.ca
Inspirational
Romance:
The Moment
I Saw You
Click here
for review
Fields of Gold
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for review
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