This collection of life stories offers a glimpse into the hardships, celebrations, hopes and fears of a poor family struggling to survive in rural West Tennessee during the first half of the 20th century. The main story follows the lives of Alvin and Crickette Kelley. Brief anecdotes told by their children and grandchildren serve as building blocks of their overall story. Filled with humor, sadness and rural wisdom, Those Sweetlips Kelleys paints a memorable portrait of an earlier, simpler time. It also provides a recipe of the ingredients that made the Kelley children the spicy and spunky dishes they grew to become. Secrets are revealed, motives are explored and life lessons are inferred. |