Briscoe Jenkins Chambers IS Southern-Fried Woolf. She is the first-person narrator and
the very essence of what at first appears as a very messy novel with too many threads
loosely unspooled. But this is indeed a great thing.
If you ever picked up a copy of Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse, read far enough — to
feel the rhythm of that novel, and then, after getting the style and prose style to fit you, reached the end of To The Lighthouse (and loved it so much that you reread it). And
applauded Woolf for “knowing more than anyone how to explain the human condition.”
— you will soon come to realize why Briscoe’s messy style IS a close second to Virginia
Woolf.
I’m applauding you, Ms. Drudge.
Dear people, this one, Southern-Fried Woolf by Drēma Drudge, is every bit a great
homage to Woolf! And brilliant! And I dare say that if Woolf were alive today, she
would nod in approval to how she (through her inimitable novel) is portrayed in
Drēma Drudge’s new novel: Modern, whimsy, engaging, and intricate.
I cannot review Southern-Fried Woolf without mentioning that I held on to To The
Lighthouse for years and that, for years attempted to read it. Failing. Until a few years
ago, when I finally challenged myself and ended up reading that messy novel and loving
it so much that I immediately reread it. There was order in what first appeared messy.
Wow! There’s order in this novel by Author Drudge too.
So far removed from the foreignness of Nashville’s country-music scene, Drēma
Drudge’s Southern-Fried Woolf got me closer to that music culture in quite the same
way Virgina’s novel brought me close to tasting a summer home in a faraway coastal
land where the mundane was elegantly colored in pale colors that spoke pleasantly to
me. So get ready to be equally surprised by the delightful tapestry that Ms. Drudge, this
spunky author, serves in this fast-paced novel.
The abrupt shifts you will find in this novel will remind you of Woolf. You will smile at
the incidents where Ms.Drudge cleverly swirls you into a new lane. And like with To The
Lighthouse, you’ll nod when you find enough rhythm to appreciate the novel. Southern,
soulful rhythm.
So far, I’ve only compared some similarities between the two novels. So in one short
sentence, let me pay homage to the characters. They’re well drawn out and real and will
live on way past the end of the novel. Briscoe managed her husband’s brand, and the
hired help managed Briscoe– something I loved!
Snide remarks abound in this novel. Some went way over my head– too Nashville-esque! And most of them come from Briscoe. I didn’t like some, but these helped make
Briscoe a more balanced, flawed human. Without them, I would have labeled Briscoe
an academic genius, as I found her Virginia Woolf graduate thesis analysis clever and
worthy of her very own stage. But we know where Briscoe gets her information.
So cool, Ms. Drudge– totally!
Southern-Fried Woolf by Drēma Drudge is a remarkable literary work of art.
Audacious. Funny and sad. You will want to reread this one. You will love this author’s
unique voice and excellent writing. You will leave it grateful for the life you have.
This is my second Drēma Drudge novel, and like the first one, I recommend this to
anyone who values these great qualities in a story. Thanks for writing this and making
this Text-to-Speech Enabled— it makes a huge difference. I’m off to purchase this in
print. 5-star from Selma.
This is the first Drēma Drudge novel I read. My Review:
Drema Drudge
Drēma Drudge is the award-winning author of the novels Victorine (March 2020) and
Southern-Fried Woolf (January 2023). A graduate of the Naslund-Mann Graduate School
of Writing, she and her husband, musician, and writer Barry Drudge have two grown
children, a new granddog, and live in a picturesque town in Indiana. They also host the
podcast MFA Payday. Learn more about Drēma and get a free literary fiction short story
at: www.dremadrudge.com.
Thanks for reading my review, dear friends. I wish you miracles.
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Sounds like a really interesting book. I’ll have to add it to my TBR list.
Hi, Pooja. Yes, add it to your list. You will love this one. Thanks for reading and commenting. Blessing you. Xo
My pleasure and will do.
Very novel Book reviews.
Thank you, Raj. Blessings.
Sounds like a great read, thanks for introducing me to this author! 💐
My pleasure to get the word out. Blessings, Tricia xo
🥰
Thanks for highlighting this book, Selma. It sounds like another good one to not miss. The TBR begins to tilt. 🙂 💞
It’s my pleasure. It’s one entertaining book. With or without (v. Woolf’s) To The Lighthouse (that I adored), this one will enlighten one on Virginia— wow you, really. Splendid.
Thanks, Laura, for commenting. Xo