Standing in the Rainbow: A Novel (Elmwood Springs)

Fannie Flagg just write characters you want to know more about and this book doesn’t disappoint The characters are charming and human The plots are funny, sad, surprising just like real life I enjoyed it very much it flows effortlessly, entertains and makes you think What more could one want?

I reread Fannie Flagg’s Elmwood Springs series of books every couple of years. They never fail to make me smile. Thank you, Fannie!

So many characters to love and some to dislike, so many belly laughs and so many tears, this book transported me to days of tranquility and excitement. I couldn’t put it down. Fannie Flagg is an expert of small town quaintness and euphoria. She carried her readers through the decades with pungent storylines and plot twists that couldn’t be matched. She never disappoints! This is my favorite so far!!

Fun story about life in a small town over several decades. Very entertaining. Great people great lives and history also.

Charming tale of rural America through the decades. By the end of this book all the characters feel like family.

Never in my life have I needed a good, wholesome, and lively story like this. Standing In The Rainbow hurtled me back to my innocent childhood. I related to nearly every character in the book, finding similar souls to compare with all the diverse characters found in a small town. Thank you, Fannie Flagg, for the introduction to Elmwood Springs and all the good, righteous citizens there.

Fannie Flagg’s characters are wonderful. You wish they were your neighbors. In this book she introduces us to Elwood Springs, Missouri where Neighbor Dorothy is a popular radio personality; Tot is accident prone and Aunt Elner adopts a series of ginger colored cats. At a pharmacists convention Dorothy meets the gospel singers of the Oatman family. Soon Betty Rae, the odd member of the Oatman family who can’t sing is living with Dorothy and her husband Doc. Dorothy’s neighbor Beatrice, a blind girl with a beautiful voice joins the Oatmans and soon the gospel-singing family are making hit records and enjoying great popularity. Hamm Sparks comes to town selling tractors, but he is ambitious. After a brief career an agricultural agent, Hamm runs for governor and wins. But a few years later his shy wife Betty Rae is the governor. How did that happen? The cast of characters is too large to mention them all. They come and go in the story that begins after World War II and stretches to the 1990’s. The innocent small-town America of Norman Rockwell “Saturday Evening Post” covers changes, and with it the town of Elwood Springs. The hardware store closes as super stores and malls change the landscape in town, but many of the same people are still there sharing their lives. Dorothy chronicles much of it on her radio program. You will enjoy the down home goodness of these characters, and Flagg being the hopeful novelist that she is allows her character little time to mourn the changes they dislike. This is a hopeful novel about the last half of the last century.

Took me back to a simpler time,when I was growing up. So many memories, beautifully written and humor thrown in.

This is quite a hefty book - nearly 500 pages with a really small font but, based on previous books I have read from this author, I was expecting the pages to fly.It is a lovely gentle book that chronicles life passing by in a post World War 2 small town in America. The narrative is based around a local radio show which broadcasts to housewives of the area, sharing neighbourhood news and bringing world events down to a very human level to which any reader of the book can relate.There are some strong characters but we all know people like this. I may not live in this type of community but felt that the author used her amazing talent to make any reader feel that they would be welcomed into Elmwood Springs and fit in right away.The writing is very natural and conversational with nothing being left to chance. The reader is always treated respectfully by assuming a level of knowledge about the events happening in the wider world.As we move into the sixties it is interesting to see the progress of the book become much more political - there are many parallels that can be drawn between the current state of affairs in the US although this book is written 15 years ago.

"Standing in the Rainbow" was my Christmas novel ("Daisy Fay" last year and "Fried Green Tomatoes" the year before that). Ever since reading Fannie Flagg's other 3 novels I couldn't wait to devour this latest offering and it's best to read them when you have a bit of spare time so that you can read loads in one go.This novel is based in Elmwood Springs, MO, which served as one of the settings in "Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!" It would be difficult to describe the plot in this book as it is more a history of the fascinating people of this American small-town. It may not have much to offer in terms of tourist features and things to do but if it was a real place the characters would be enough for me to set off on a wee holiday there. Flagg captures the wholesome qualities some people posess as well as the characteristics of those people who have allowed such things as power to corrupt them.

A sequel of sorts to the brilliant Welcome To The World, Baby Girl! Fannie Flagg constructs another funny, moving and utterly readable account of small town America. Packed with incidents, laughs, oddball characters and a moving portrayal of the post-war change in American life, Standing In The Rainbow is utterly compulsive reading, the short chapters encouraging you to think 'just one more'. The only mystery is why isn't she better known? I give this the highest recommendation for the discerning reader. Next up, Can't Wait To Get To Heaven, a title alluded to in this book. Can't Wait!

Another gem from the wonderful Fannie Flagg, the characters are all just great and really take you to another place and time. I laughed and cried and was sorry when I reached the end, I loved "Cant wait to get to heaven" but probably should have read this one first as there are characters that follow on but I only discovered the wonderful Ms Flagg last year so I have some catching up to do. I wont spoil it by telling you everything but I dont think this one will dissapoint and is a must for all Flagg fans.

It took me quite a long time to read this book, it is an enjoyable read but not really much of a story so no enough happening to hold my attention for long, it was good to read a chapter in bed every night as it is an easy non-demanding read. I much preferred Welcome to the world baby girl.