Dans le sud profond des États-Unis, en Alabama, un café, le Whistle Stop, au bord d'une voie ferrée...Nous sommes dans les années 1980. Ninny, fringante octogénaire, se souvient des incroyables histoires de la petite ville où elle vit toujours et les raconte à Evelyn, une femme au foyer à l'existence monotone, qui vient lui tenir compagnie.Grâce à l'adorable vieille dame et à ses récits chaleureux et enlevés, Evelyn, qui vit très mal l'approche de la cinquantaine, va peu à peu s'affirmer et reprendre goût à la vie.Une chronique nostalgique tendre et vibrante, pleine de saveur et d'humour. L'histoire d'une amitié entre deux femmes qu'une génération sépare. Un roman culte.
Bud a grandi dans la petite ville ferroviaire de Whistle Stop, Alabama, avec sa mère Ruth et sa tante Idgie. Ensemble, elles ont tenu le fameux Whistle Stop Café, connu dans le monde entier pour ses succulents beignets de tomates vertes.Hélas, tout a une fin. La gare a fermé et Whistle Stop est devenue une ville fantôme.Malgré tout, Bud, devenu vieux, décide d'y accomplir un dernier voyage afin de revoir l'endroit où il a été si heureux. Chemin faisant, il va se faire de nouveaux amis et apprendre des choses surprenantes sur les gens qu'il a connus et dont il croyait tout savoir.Tout aussi réconfortant, inspirant et enchanteur que Beignets de tomates vertes dont il est la suite, Retour à Whistle Stop est une ode à la vie et à la magie du quotidien.
Rien ne ressemble davantage à un petit village américain qu'Elmwood Springs, Missouri. Les années passent, les bonheurs et les drames se succèdent, la société et le monde se transforment, mais les humains, avec leurs plaisirs, leurs peurs, leurs croyances, leurs amours, ne changent guère.
Mais c'est ailleurs que les choses se passent. Là-haut. Sur la colline. Derrière son arche de bois sculpté, le cimetière de Still Meadows bruisse de ragots. Loin de jouir d'un repos éternel, les défunts y continuent leurs existences, sous une forme particulière...
Et tout irait pour le mieux dans ce monde, et dans l'autre, si d'inexplicables disparitions ne venaient bouleverser la vie, et la mort, de cette paisible petite communauté...
Il est loin le temps où Maggie représentait fièrement l'Alabama, au concours de Miss America. À 60 ans, fatiguée, elle pense avoir connu le meilleur de la vie et s'apprête à mettre fin à ses jours, sur la pointe des pieds, sans gêner personne. Seulement il fallait que Brenda téléphone à ce moment-là. Deux places pour un spectacle de derviches tourneurs, dans huit jours, ça ne se refuse pas... Pour faire plaisir à son amie, Maggie accepte de retarder l'échéance d'une semaine. Et ces quelques jours vont lui montrer que l'existence a encore beaucoup plus à lui offrir qu'elle ne le croyait...
Quelle idée, à son âge, de monter à l'échelle pour cueillir des figues ! Elner Shimfissle, octogénaire et bonne fée du quartier, vient de faire successivement la rencontre d'un nid de guêpes et une chute de deux mètres... Alors que la nouvelle de son décès se répand, entraînant chez ses voisins, ses proches, diverses questions sur le sens de la vie, Elner, elle, fait un petit tour de paradis. À la grande surprise des médecins, l'adorable mamie en revient pourtant. Avec des choses à dire. À tout le monde. Et pas qu'un peu... !
Maintenant que la dernière de ses filles a convolé en justes noces, Sookie peut enfin s'autoriser à ne rien faire. À presque 60 ans, il serait temps ! Seulement, une lettre livrée par erreur vient soudain bousculer son paisible programme. S'y étale, noir sur blanc, le mensonge de toute une vie.
Mise sur la piste d'une mystérieuse vieille dame, femme libre et héroïne de guerre, Sookie retrace à tâtons le fil de son histoire. Ses pas la mèneront à une lointaine station-service du Wisconsin où l'attendent un autre passé et, peut-être, un nouveau départ.
The day Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison opened the Whistle Stop Cafe, the town took a turn for the better. It was the Depression and that cafe was a home from home for many of us. You could get eggs, grits, bacon, ham, coffee and a smile for 25 cents. Ruth was just the sweetest girl you ever met. And Idgie? She was a character, all right. You never saw anyone so headstrong. But how anybody could have thought she murdered that man is beyond me.
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a mouth-watering tale of love, laughter and mystery. It will lift your spirits and above all it'll remind you of the secret to life: friends.
B>NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A heartwarming novel about secrets of youth rediscovered, hometown memories, and the magical moments in ordinary lives, from the beloved author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafebr>/b>br>b>A gift, a blessing and a triumph . . . celebrates the bonds of family and friends--and the possibilities of recovery and renewal.--The Free LanceStar/b>br>br>Bud Threadgoode grew up in the bustling little railroad town of Whistle Stop with his mother, Ruth, church-going and proper, and his Aunt Idgie, the fun-loving hell-raiser. Together they ran the towns popular Whistle Stop Cafe, known far and wide for its fun and famous fried green tomatoes. And as Bud often said of his childhood to his daughter Ruthie, How lucky can you get?br>br> But sadly, as the railroad yards shut down and Whistle Stop became a ghost town, nothing was left but boarded-up buildings and memories of a happier time.br>br> Then one day, Bud decides to take one last trip, just to see what has become of his beloved Whistle Stop. In so doing, he discovers new friends, as well as surprises about Idgies life, about Ninny Threadgoode and other beloved Fannie Flagg characters, and about the town itself. He also sets off a series of events, both touching and inspiring, which change his life and the lives of his daughter and many others. Could these events all be just coincidences? Or something else? And can you really go home again
The hilarious and heartwarming new novel from the author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe Wisconsin, 1941 - With all the men off to war, Fritzi and her sisters must learn men's work and the All-Girl Filling Station is born, complete with neat little caps, short skirts, and roller-skates. Their peace doesn't last long though: skilled women are needed to fly planes for the war effort...
Alabama, 2005 - Mrs Sookie Earle has just married off the last of her daughters and is looking forward to putting her feet up. But then one day a package arrives. Its contents knock Sookie sideways, propelling her back to the 1940s, and four irrepressible sisters whose wartime adventures force them to reimagine who they are, and what they are capable of.
'Flagg is a writer of great warmth and wisdom... A richly imagined family saga' The Times 'Wonderful... A warm, funny riff on family and identity' Daily Mail
Elmwood Springs, Missouri, is a small town like any other, but something strange is happening at the cemetery. Still Meadows, as it's called, is anything but still. Original, profound, The Whole Town's Talking, a novel in the tradition of Thornton Wilder's Our Town and Flagg's own Can't Wait to Get to Heaven, tells the story of Lordor Nordstrom, his Swedish mail-order bride, Katrina, and their neighbors and descendants as they live, love, die, and carry on in mysterious and surprising ways. Lordor Nordstrom created, in his wisdom, not only a lively town and a prosperous legacy for himself but also a beautiful final resting place for his family, friends, and neighbors yet to come. «Resting place» turns out to be a bit of a misnomer, however. Odd things begin to happen, and it starts the whole town talking.
In a tiny and remote Alabama town, an unexpected, unusual, and life-transforming event that occurs on one Christmas morning changes a family and a town forever, in a heartwarming holiday novel by the author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Reprint.
Takes readers back to Elmwood Springs, Missouri, where the most unlikely and surprising experiences of a high-spirited octogenarian inspire a town to ponder the age-old question: Why are we here?
A short and poignant Christmas story for all the family. Oswald T. Campbell, aged 52, down-and-out in a Chicago winter, is only given months to live unless he moves South. He finds himself in the small town of Lost River, Alabama, amongst all its eccentric but friendly residents.
A major new novel -- the first in four years -- by the irresistible bestselling author of Can't Wait to Get to Heaven, Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!, and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe Meet Maggie Fortenberry. To others, her life seems pretty much perfect - she's beautiful, charming and successful, just as you'd expect of a former Miss Alabama. But, in fact, Maggie is perfectly miserable. By now she should have been living in one of the elegant houses on Red Mountain with the adoring husband and 2.5 children. Instead, she makes a living selling that dream to others - through her estate agency Red Mountain Realty, where lately business has been going from bad to worse.
But just as Maggie is about to give up hope, she comes up with the perfect plan. And that's when strange things start happening. As Maggie finds herself catapulted into one surprising discovery after another, she learns valuable lessons about the nature of friendship, the challenges of modern life and the dangers of impossible dreams. She also learns that everybody, dead or alive, has at least one little secret . . .
I Still Dream About You is a delectable romp of a novel. Part murder mystery, part feel-good comedy, it bursts with the Southern charm and good, old-fashioned wisdom that have become Fannie Flagg's hallmark worldwide.
Meet Maggie Fortenberry. To others, her life seems pretty much perfect - she's beautiful, charming and successful, just as you'd expect of a former Miss Alabama. But, in fact, Maggie is perfectly miserable. By now she should have been living in one of the elegant houses on Red Mountain with the adoring husband and 2.5 children..
