A southern novel based in Tennessee which is humorous and quirky. The Wilde sisters are main characters with Kat and Pearle. Peale travels the world and moves back to open a whore house in town to draw in the wealthy. Funny how she recruits the help to renovate the house who all scared of their mothers and wives. Was not wild about the narrator; however, entertaining--not my style of reading. ( )

Five Points, Tennessee: where the whiskey is mellow and the women are strong.

Though this book is titled after several central characters, the stories center on most of the women of the town. There is a touch of Alice Hoffman's style in the writing, which lured me into thinking there would be a bit more magic in the tales, but in truth, the main magic is in the characters depicted in this small town, hit hard by the depression and Prohibition. There's pithiness, and grit there (you can tell from the very first sentence " The Lord giveth and most women piss it away.") But there also are some great characters (female and male) who evolve and age, taking their tones and tastes from the world around them. And though the individual characters and arcs drew me, I think what kept me coming back to the book (I had to put it aside for several ARCs that came in) was the way the making of whiskey was interwoven through the life of the characters and town. It was the livelihood of many, and when times became tough, the currency of life. As the author says: “A woman is like whiskey. She evaporates a little over time, distilled by disappointments and grief. One can never predict if the angels will take the best of her or the worst. Only time will tell if the woman that remains will be bitter, dispirited, or aged to perfection.” (pg. 180)

Liquor can be like moonshine quick, strong, and straight to your head, or like that fine whiskey which takes on the nuances of the world around it to become something more. This is a book shaped by whiskey,

Tags: set-in-the-south, taught-me-something, made-me-look-something-up, i-liked-it, will-look-for-more-by-this-author ( )

This isn't a Point A to Point B kind of book, more like a series of vignettes about some extremely dysfunctional relationships in the small town of Five Points, Tennessee and the changes forced upon those relationships when a high brow brothel, The Five of Clubs, comes to town. The humor is first rate, even though the plot seems to swerve around on a curvy road. I loved every minute of it. Laugh out loud funny. I kept stopping to read passages to my husband. ( )

fascinating historical romance : In 1929 in Five Points, Tennessee, Pearl Wilde finds her fiancé Bourne Cavanagh, oldest son of the owner of Cavanagh Whiskey Distillery, having sex with her sister Kat, who to add insult to injury is wearing her shoes. Pearl takes her shoes back and leaves for Chicago. As she travels overseas and across America, Pearl sends home post cards to Kat telling her to go to hell. However, late in 1932 she returns home to open up a whore house.

Pearl enters the dilapidated hardware store owned by Bud Marshall. The men who hang out there are awed by her except the handsomest nineteen year old Eddie McCowan. She hires him to work for her and tells his mom Maysie that she is pleased with her son's work. Bud cleans up his store and Maysie persuades the men to accept work at Pearl's place. The Mayor informs the town council they will do nothing to prevent Pearl opening up her business, the first new one in town in a decade.

Kat works at the Randolph and Hughes Shirt Factory where she sews sleeves onto the shirts. Mason Hughes, the son of the owner, sees her and wants her. She rejects his advances. Still Mason visits Kat who tells him to leave, but unbeknownst to both of them Pearl watches and realizes her sister wants this man because she pushes away those she desires; she now has her tool of revenge.

The ensemble cast contains unique characters that bring to life Depression Era Tennessee while the story line has an underlying whimsical feel as the Wilde sisters wink at American history yet brings a sense of time and place to the delightful story line. The final wild twist will surprise readers as Paula Wall provides the audience with a fascinating historical romance starring two Wilde women, their men, and the fully developed townsfolk who observe the sibling war.

Harriet Klausner

Absolutely the best book I've ever read. Its a story about how a brothel brought a town back to life even though some people werent happy about it. There are several romances going on but its hilarious at the same time. Even though its a pretty long book I finished it in a day because I just couldnt put it down. I've been searching for another southern book like it, but I cant find one quite as good. I highly recomend this book to anyone who enjoys southern writing. ( )