Lee’s new book, Mrs. Darcy Meets the Blue-Eyed Stranger, will be published in March, 2010 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. It is a collection of new and selected stories.
Fair and Tender Ladies
Her work has a mixture of lyricism and
sexual boldness. . . Like Sissy Spacek and
Loretta Lynn, Smith can make a
performance in a popular medium seem
like a complete declaration of feeling. . .
Fair and Tender Ladies might have been
sung into being." --Newsweek
Among her most devoted readers, Fair and Tender Ladies (1988) is probably Smith's most beloved book; Smith says she knows of at least four babies named for the novel's indomitable heroine, Ivy Rowe. This epistolary novel chronicles the life of Ivy, a tenacious mountain woman who remains cussedly dedicated to the ideal of perseverance, despite the many formidable obstacles she faces. It is considered by many to be Smith's most fully realized and artistically successful work. In 1995, a reviewer wrote that in Fair and Tender Ladies, Smith seemed to be "working toward [an] elemental and profound grasp of emotions and storytelling."
Buy this book from Amazon.com.
Visit barbarabatessmith.com to learn about the Ivy Rowe one woman show!