"Fictional autobiography would be the proper way to describe this book. Elizabeth is snarky and opinionated but in such an adorable way that you can't help but like her. All she wants to do is take care of her large garden and her three young children, and be left alone. She tolerates her husband and refers to him as the "Man of Wrath". He "talks the talk" but Elizabeth doesn't let him "walk the walk". Her oldest baby girl is five, born in April and is appropriately called "The April Baby". The four year old was born in May and the three year old in June, and yes, they are "The May Baby" and "The June Baby". When some escaped cows threaten to trample the garden, the June Baby grabs a stick bigger than herself and holds the astonished cows at bay until help arrives. Little anecdotes like this are scattered throughout and I was pleasantly surprised and entertained. What more can you ask of a book?"

"This book is hard to rate because it's both a fascinating look at an area of Florida in the late 1930s and early 1940s and yet it fails to go deep into the author and her struggles. It focuses too much on the nature around Cross Creek and the people the author encounters, yet it avoids delving into the emotions of the author herself. For instance, in Chapter 22, "Hyacinth Drift," Marjorie "lost touch with the Creek." Suddenly the grove was "nothing," and "the difficulties were greater than the compensations." Life had become a "nightmare" but the author never alluded to what was causing her anguish. So she and a friend, Dessie, take an adventurous river trip down the St. John's River. We never know much about her companion Dess except that Dess is younger than Marjorie yet calls her "young un." From some of the things Dessie says, I want to know more about her; she sounds like a fascinating character. And Marjorie herself; I want to know more. She seems to reveal herself only on the surface; we can't see often enough the deeper eddies that drive her.

The book was a slog at times, especially the chapters about each of the seasons. Marjorie was also a product of her time, seeing black people as lesser humans than whites. She seems to love particular individuals, yet makes sweeping statements about their laziness or unreliability. I'm sure this was normal in those days, but shouldn't she have questioned these beliefs more? I would have liked to see more self-reflection and self-revelation. "

"Interesting book. Good historical data and references, although I found Frazier's critique of the Black elite to be, well, outright disparaging and contentious. I don't know much about his personal life other than the fact he was one of five children brought up in what may have been a middle class household, by his bank messenger father and housewife mother. I wonder if such a harsh critique is the result of his personal knowledge of this particular group or superficial research. However Frazier came to his conclusions it's clear he much prefers his Negroes shiftless as opposed to highfalutin. Oh well..."