I love stories about women bettering themselves and defying all the odds. So, Sweet Vidalia seemed to fit that bill and I was really excited to meet Eliza at a pivotal point in her life.

In 1960s Texas, Eliza Kratke’s husband Robert has just died suddenly and the aftermath unearths a lie that changes Eliza’s whole world. But she is resourceful, generous and resilient and it’s these qualities that she must hold on to in an uncertain future. Moving in to the Sweet Vidalia with her dog Percy, Eliza meets her fellow residents who are all facing their own challenges.

Eliza enrols at a college and almost starts her life again, which I think is incredibly admirable for a woman in her fifties. Due to recent events in her life, she really feels like she has to do well in her course. I really felt the desperation in her to make a new life for herself and carve out an existence that Robert was never a part of. I think she feels like this is her last chance to have a good life and that’s probably true of many older people in a similar position.

Eliza lives such a simple life at the Sweet Vidalia on meagre means. The whole process of mapping out her expenses and deciding what she can and can’t afford comes with anxiety but I think it also has a kind of cosiness. The Vidalia seems like a lively, safe place to rebuild a life and Eliza’s determination and courage meant that I had no doubts that she’d be just fine.

There is also some commentary on the experiences of marginalised people in 1960s Texas. When she finishes her college course, Eliza and her classmates start going to job interviews. She and her queer friend Terry are two of the last to secure jobs and there is reflection on why this is. It’s tragic that 60 years later, age and sexuality are still very much real barriers that people face when trying to find work and prosper.

The Sweet Vidalia is full of great characters and I’d have loved to hear more of each of their lives. In some ways, I think this book might have worked better as a collection of connected short stories, so that we get those ‘little pieces of something big’ but I still enjoyed what we got from each of them. There is this idea that they’re all just passing through the Vidalia and through each other’s lives. It’s all temporary, so you could question whether their connections really matter but seeing the impact that they have on Eliza’s life leaves you in no doubt that they really do.

Sweet Vidalia is very much a character-led novel but the characterisations are fantastic. I don’t think I’ll forget Eliza for a long time and I loved watching her kindness, generosity and grit prevail through a very tough time.

Sweet Vidalia by Lisa Sandlin is an absorbing story with characters that draw you in about a woman needing to reinvent herself.

Despite a punchy and shocking opening, it took me a while to get into this novel, I think the writing took a while to settle into itself. About a quarter way in, I got into the groove of the story and Eliza really grew on me.

Rather than sink under the weight of her misfortune, Eliza becomes resourceful and starts to address her issues one by one. She shows great strength of character and is a true example of how an ‘unexpected end’ can lead to ‘new beginnings’. She is heroic and resilient. As the reader, you feel right there with her on her journey. The characters she meets at the Sweet Vidalia are quirky and authentic and reflect how happiness can be found in the most unexpected or unlikely places. This is an easy, uplifting, and feel-good read.

Many thanks to both #LittleBrownandCompany and #NetGalley for an advance copy.

When Eliza's husband dies unexpectedly, she discovers that he's been keeping several big secrets that completely destroy her life and everything she thought she knew. Denied the opportunity to grieve, Eliza sets about trying to rebuild her life. It's a painful, disjointed process.

This was compared to Anne Tyler, so I absolutely had to try it. At first I was really drawn into the story and I liked Eliza from page 1. She was very real and I felt with her as her husband's betrayals unfolded. I continued to enjoy her character throughout the whole book and was always rooting for her.

What let the book down for me was the pacing and the abundance of "quirky" characters. I wanted more of Eliza's life with her husband, more trying to make sense of what he did, perhaps even a flashback perspective from his point of view. Even though he didn't necessarily deserve understanding (I don't condone anything he did by any means) it would have been interesting. I liked that we got Eliza moving on, but I'd have liked a bit more introspection.

I'd have also liked less characters and more time spent with them. For example, Eliza befriends many young people, most of them unusual, but we don't get long with them. I'd have liked to hear more about Mary but she only gets one scene. Perhaps the point is that Eliza is learning to be independent, but I found it a bit bleak and lonely. The novel moves a bit jerkily from one encounter to another and so wasn't as coherent as I like.

I did enjoy parts of the book and read most of it in one sitting, but overall I was a bit disappointed and left wanting more. It's a nice story of triumphing over adversity and I recommend it if you like the quirky characters trope. I am glad I read it but I wish it had gone in a different direction. 3.25 stars.

I'd like to thank the publishers and Netgalley for kindly providing me with an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

I initially enjoyed the book and the characters but as the book went on I found myself struggling to stay interested or connected. While the book opens with a massive plot twist and sets the tone for everything to come, I feel like the pacing was a little off and certain moments were overwritten whereas others were skipped by. Still, some great characters and emotional scenes, especially from Eliza.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC.

I mostly enjoyed this book and really liked the concept and the plot, however I did find the pacing to be a little slow for my liking. I also wasn't really hooked into the book, and I found once I was putting it down I wasn't thinking about it. But overall it's a good book with a strong message and I know people who will love it.

This story was so unexpectedly cosy and delightful. I totally fell in love with Eliza and was so invested in her turning her life around after her dreadful shock. The comp titles are perfect: Anne Tyler, Elizabeth Strout, Mary Lawson - Lisa Sandlin's style and tone is perfect for fans of those authors. I feel like short-story readers would also really like this story on a structural level, because some of the chapters felt like they could be read independently. It was easy to dip in and out of, but I enjoyed it so much I couldn't put it down.

Sweet Vidalia, by Lisa Sandlin (UK Release December 3, 2024), takes us to Texas, in 1964. When her husband, Robert, dies, Eliza has to confront the devastating fall-out of his duplicity. Blow after blow lands in the days following his death, shattering her, and devastating her children. She’s left with nothing, not even grief.

Rather than stew in the pity and gossip of her old community, Eliza spins her neighbours a yarn and relocates to somewhat less grand accommodation. She’s woman in her fifties, stoic and resourceful, a product of the depression and the war years, adrift in the 1960s just as they are starting to swing. There’s a new freedom rising, but it’s for the young and the carefree.

Her new neighbours are not the kind of people she’s used to mixing with, they are younger and – to her – strange, all stumbling towards their future as best they can.

As she tackles her problems pragmatically, Eliza become aware of her strength, her capacity for endurance. This isn’t what she imagined for herself, but if she can make it from day to day then that might be enough to prove to herself that she is not yet defeated.

This is a lovely, warm, and hopeful book, beautifully written with economy and a rare eye for human frailties. It’s a celebration of the resilience and power of women. Eliza is a fabulous character, she’s so still and noble, taking her small pleasures where she can, reaching that little bit further every day as she comes to recognise her abilities and her ambitions. Emerging from the role of housewife she finds a new vividity to her days, coloured more than a little by uncertainty and fear, but coloured nevertheless. Sustained by her new friendships she discovers her wings.

I kept Eliza close though my reading of the book - we shared that initial horror and grief at her loss of Robert and the subsequent stunned anger – and I watched in pleasure as she built herself up to a place of peace and reflection.

After Eliza, the MC, loses her husband, she starts a new life. She discovers her late husband’s secrets, reinvents herself and meets interesting people.
Had this been shorter and more focused, and the writing literary, I would have enjoyed this book more.
There is nothing wrong with the characterisation and the themes. It is mostly a matter of taste, pacing and emphasis for me,