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Nov
02
Book Club Breakdown: Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore
2009 at 8am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
My book club read this as our September selection. Our meeting was cancelled, so we discussed it last week in conjunction with our October book. Here’s what went down.
What it’s about:
A description from the publisher:
Sometimes you have to return to the place where you began, to arrive at the place where you belong.
It’s the early 1970s. The town of Ringgold, Georgia, has a population of 1,923, one traffic light, one Dairy Queen, and one Catherine Grace Cline. The daughter of Ringgold’s third-generation Baptist preacher, Catherine Grace is quick-witted, more than a little stubborn, and dying to escape her small-town life.
Every Saturday afternoon, she sits at the Dairy Queen, eating Dilly Bars and plotting her getaway to the big city of Atlanta. And when, with the help of a family friend, the dream becomes a reality, Catherine Grace immediately packs her bags, leaving her family and the boy she loves to claim the life she’s always imagined. But before things have even begun to get off the ground in Atlanta, tragedy brings her back home. As a series of extraordinary events alters her perspective–and sweeping changes come to Ringgold itself–Catherine Grace begins to wonder if her place in the world may actually be, against all odds, right where she began.
Why we chose it:
I tend to prefer heavier books, and that was starting to show in book club. Somehow, having the Book Lady in the book club made everyone else slow to recommend selections, so I chose our first three—The Help, The Gargoyle, and The Believers—and the other ladies decided it was time to read something that wasn’t such a thinker. Something less…..depressing.
The weather was warm, and we were all feeling a little antsy. We needed a selection we could devour in one gulp while sunning on our patios. Something light. Something fun. Something we didn’t really have to think about it. But something that would still be well-written and interesting. I’d heard about this book from a few customers whose book club was reading, so I figured we could give it a shot.
What we liked:
We approached Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen looking for a quick, light read, and it did not disappoint. Catherine Grace’s lilting southern accent was ever-present in the narration, and we felt right at home with her in Ringgold. The story was sweet, if a bit predictable, and it went down easily. Gilmore’s vivid descriptions made us feel like we, too, were suffering in the sweltering heat, longing to escape small town life, but looking forward to that weekly trip to the Dairy Queen for a few minutes of quiet time with a Dilly Bar.
I think that desire to grow up and get away is something we all felt as teenagers, regardless of where we lived, and Gilmore brings it to life quite skillfully. On the day she is to leave, Catherine Grace still can’t quite believe that her dream is actually coming true, and that conflict between excitement and fear of the unknown rang true for many of us.
What we didn’t like:
Well, as book club fodder goes, this book didn’t provide much. More about plot than it is about character development, Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen didn’t work for me as a book club selection for the same reasons it is a great choice for a sunny summer afternoon: it doesn’t require too much of the reader but provides a beautiful escape.
Additionally, the whole small-town-girl-who-wants-to-run-off-to-the-big-city trope is familiar and predictable, and though Catherine Grace’s late-adolescent longing to escape is recognizable and easy to relate to, a few members also found it frustrating in that we never really know why she wants to get out so badly.
And there’s a surprise twist near the end that isn’t much of a surprise, and you know I don’t love that.
Should your book club read it?
If you need a break from the heavier stuff, sure, why not? Though I would recommend waiting until the weather gets warm again. It’s just that kind of book.
If you’re looking for something that will make you think and a book whose thematic material will just naturally raise questions for discussion, then this one probably isn’t for you.
What else?
If I hadn’t been reading this for book club and looking at it from that critical perspective, I think I would have just gobbled it up and not cared about the flaws. For a summer afternoon or a day spent traveling, Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen would be a good companion. I don’t read many books that fall into that category of “light reading,” but I did enjoy this one and would recommend adding it to your TBR pile or filing it away on your list for a day when you want to read without having to work too hard. Fans of southern fiction will also appreciate Gilmore’s ability to paint the people and character of small-town life.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Sometimes you have to return to the place where you began, to arrive at the place where you belong.
It’s the early 1970s. The town of Ringgold, Georgia, has a population of 1,923, one traffic light, one Dairy Queen, and one Catherine Grace Cline. The daughter of Ringgold’s third-generation Baptist preacher, Catherine Grace is quick-witted, more than a little stubborn, and dying to escape her small-town life.
Every Saturday afternoon, she sits at the Dairy Queen, eating Dilly Bars and plotting her getaway to the big city of Atlanta. And when, with the help of a family friend, the dream becomes a reality, Catherine Grace immediately packs her bags, leaving her family and the boy she loves to claim the life she’s always imagined. But before things have even begun to get off the ground in Atlanta, tragedy brings her back home. As a series of extraordinary events alters her perspective–and sweeping changes come to Ringgold itself–Catherine Grace begins to wonder if her place in the world may actually be, against all odds, right where she began.
[...] Book Club Breakdown: Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore [...]
Sorry it probably wasnt the best book club selection, but it still sounds like a great light read.
It worked out well that we ended up combining it with our October selection so we had more to talk about….but yes, a great light read, indeed.
I enjoyed this book! I think Catherine Grace and her mother just had wanderlust in their souls that needed to be satisfied before they could settle down.
That’s a good point, Cathy. I enjoyed it, too….just felt like the character development could have been better.
I just mooched this from someone on a whim (I was already getting something else from them, figured ‘why not?’). Now I’m excited to read it when I need something quick and fun!
I recently read this and enjoyed it. It’s what you say a fun, light read. I so need to get my hands on a “dilly bar” – never had one of those.
My book club just finished something similar, but we haven’t had the meeting yet. I think that the “thinking” books provide much more fodder for conversation, way above the light selections, but that is just my taste. I imagine the rest of my group would rather have the beach reads, and it drives me a bit crazy sometimes.
I agree. There’s nothing wrong with light reads, but if you’re going to take the time to get together and talk about a book, you need one that gives you something to talk about!