Now that her morbidly obese sister, Agnes Sparrow is comfortably dieting at the Greenbriar Nursing home, Griselda has time to fly--literally. A pilot makes an emergency landing on Hector's Hill and creates quite a ruckus in the otherwise sleepy town of Bright's Pond. Griselda becomes enamored with Cliff Cardwell and his airplane, a 1952 Cessna Beachpiper and takes him up on his offer of flying lessons. This after Zeb Sewickey has proposed marriage. Griselda has not given him her answer.
Welcome back to Bright’s Pond. Now that her morbidly obese sister, Agnes Sparrow, is comfortably dieting at the Greenbrier Nursing home, Griselda has time to fly—literally. A pilot makes an emergency landing on Hector’s Hill and creates quite a ruckus in the otherwise sleepy town of Bright’s Pond. Griselda becomes enamored with Cliff Cardwell and his airplane, a 1952 Cesna Beachpiper and takes him up on his offer of flying lessons. This after Zeb Sewickey has proposed marriage. Griselda has not given him her answer.
Meanwhile, Stella Hughes Kincaid receives word that her estranged brother, Walter, is in a coma at Greenbrier. Griselda and Agnes convince Stella to see him. On her first visit she meets Gilda Saucer who claims to be Walter’s fiancée. Stella smells a rat and upon further investigation discovers that Walter had recently become a millionaire thanks to the PA state lottery. Stella, Griselda, and pretty much everyone in town jump to the conclusion that Gilda is a gold digger.
Stella and Griselda confront the woman who vehemently denies the accusation and pledges her sincere love for Walter. She is still suspicious, but Stella backs off. When Bright’s Pond Chief of Police, Mildred Blessing, digs up the news that Stella is married to a two-bit con man, Cliff Cardwell (the pilot) from Binghamton, NY, Gilda and the cute but lying flight instructor are chased from Greenbrier by several cane-wielding Greenbrier residents and Agnes. They are arrested on bunko charges.
Miracles still happen occasionally in Bright’s Pond; Walter awakens from his coma. He and Stella are reunited, Griselda gives Zeb her answer—no—and is last seen flying loop-de-loops over Hector’s Hill.
Author Bio
Joyce Magnin is the author of The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow, chosen as one of the "Top 5 Best Christian Fiction Books of 2009" by Library Journal. She's written several short fiction and personal experience articles. She co-authored the book, Linked to Someone in Pain. She has been published in such magazines as Relief Journal, Parents Express, Sunday Digest, and Highlights for Children. Joyce attended Bryn Mawr College and is a member of the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Fellowship. She is a frequent workshop leader at various writer’s conferences and women’s church groups. She has three children, Rebekah, Emily, and Adam; one grandson, Lemuel Earnest; one son-in-law, Joshua, and a neurotic parakeet. Joyce leads a small fiction group called StoryCrafters. She enjoys baseball, football, cream soda, and needle arts but not elevators. She currently lives in Havertown, Pennsylvania.
ChristianBookPreviews.com
Griselda Takes Flight by Joyce Magnin is a tongue-in-cheek comedy about a woman who desires to chuck it all and run away and find a new life. However, fate and destiny have other plans for this poor dear soul.
After putting her morbidly obese sister, Agnes, in a nursing home in their small town of Bright's Pond, Griselda Sparrow makes plans to enjoy her pending freedom. But things go awry when Griselda's gal-pal Stella Kincaid's long lost brother, Walter, who is in a coma, is transferred to the same nursing home as Agnes. Walter's fiancee, Gilda Saucer, and a strange man with his own private plane show up, and they are constantly trying to arrange things for Gilda to get married to Walter just as soon as he shows any sign of consciousness. Griselda does some investigating and discovers that Walter was a treasure hunter and that it was rumored he was about to make a great discovery when, suddenly, he was seriously injured in an attack on his life, leaving him hospitalized indefinitely. Wanting to bring closure to this crime story is not easy for Griselda when she discovers that she is becoming emotionally attracted to Zeb, the mystery man.
The characters in this novel are well developed, distinctive, and perfect for the roles they play. They become likeable in their small town quirkiness. Although this book espouses Christian virtues and beliefs, it is not religiously obtrusive. The subtlety of living out Christian disciplines is shown here more than preached about, and that makes the story flow well.
Magnin is the author of several short fiction and personal experience articles. Her book, The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow, was chosen as one of the "Top 5 Best Christian Fiction Books of 2009" by Library Journal. She is also a frequent workshop leader at various writer's conferences and women's church groups. This latest novel will not disappoint her fans. It is humorous and insightful. Mindy T. Kreilein, www.ChristianBookPreviews.com
Publisher's Weekly
In book three of the Bright's Pond series, Magnin gives Griselda Sparrow, sister of the physically large and pious titular character of The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow, center stage. As Griselda explores new personal freedom, with Agnes being cared for in a nursing home, an unfolding mystery dominates the town gossip. The country bumpkin language ("gee whilakers") returns to the scene, along with character names fit for a Roald Dahl tale ("Mildred Blessing"). Balancing kitschy fun with sober reality, Magnin tackles many adult themes throughout the novel: a caregiver's resentment, questions of fidelity, etc. Yet the playful style stands in the way of deeper character development; readers are taken through endless tales of pumpkin patches and treasure hunts that interrupt a more meaningful tale of a struggle for independence. Readers seeking an escape to a land where neighbors still wander into each other's kitchens will enjoy the "aw shucks" attitude and surprise ending. (Apr.) Copyright 2011 Reed Business Information.
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