If you haven’t read Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, stop what you’re doing and go get it. And read it. It won’t take long. It sucks you in and you won’t want to put it down. Now, pick this one up and find yourself back in Whistle Stop, back with the characters you loved, and you’ll see what happened to them after Fried Green Tomatoes ended.
Buddy Threadgoode — the boy missing an arm after a run in with a train — grew up with his mother Ruth and his fun-loving Aunt Idgie, running the Whistle Stop Café, with its famous fried green tomatoes and a policy of feeding everyone, no matter their color or whether they could afford it. Buddy eventually grows up, gets married, and has his own daughter, Ruthie, who also grows up, gets married, and has her own children.
While this book says it’s about Bud, the named wonder boy, I think that it’s really about Ruthie, his daughter, and her own struggle to find herself and raise herself up… with the help of Evelyn Couch, of course. (It’s so much fun to see Evelyn Couch after she finds her voice.)
It’s been years since I read the first book, and of course the movie is wonderful (with the screenplay written by the same author, so it tracks well,) so it was really nice getting to go back and revisit so many of the characters, while also meeting the ones who come after. I really liked how the author tied together the past and present — we jump back and forth through the years in this book, where we are reminded about key things that happened in the original book, which then tie into the present time. I did find it a bit confusing sometimes, though, with the time jumps, but I did need a few of those reminders, so they were helpful.
I also really liked how she tied in both Evelyn and Ninny Threadgoode’s characters, since they were really so much of the heart of the first book. If you were cheering for Evelyn at the end of the first book, you’ll definitely be on your feet by the end of this one with how far she’s come.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Random House in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.