Lydia

Lydia Callahan is a free woman. She was in Dublin, California Penitentiary for trying to kill President Ronald Reagan’s dog. Sam Callahan manages the Virgin Birthing House for Unwed Mothers. When Sam, his daughter and adoptive son hit the road to go pick up Lydia, disaster ensues.

I have never read anything by Mr. Sandlin before this book. So, this might explain a little of why I could never fully commit to the characters as long time fans of the GroVont trilogy have. While, I may not be a long time fan of the GroVonts, I did not have a problem jumping right into this book. I would recommend though, starting with Skipped Parts. Though, I did like Lydia. She was full of spunk and always spoke her mind. I just wished that she was more prominent in this book. The humor in this book was sometimes on the settle side as to opposed to right in your face. It was like black humor. For some people, black humor takes a while to get used too as it can also come off as rude and offensive. While, I did not mind the humor, not caring about the characters and the story line, I found that I could not finish this book. Again, this book was not my cup of tea but from what I could read, fans of this series will be pleased.


Fifteen years ago, Tim Sandlin concluded his “GroVont” trilogy, a string of books that included a New York Times Notable Book and earned such accolades as “funny and compelling” (LA Times), “zany” (Cosmo), and “dazzling and moving” (New York Times).


But some characters call a writer back.

And so begins Tim Sandlin’s return to the wild, welcome, and warm characters of GroVont, Wyoming. In Lydia (Sourcebooks Landmark; ON-SALE April 12), Sam Callahan is managing the Virgin Birth Home for Unwed Mothers. The women in Sam’s life keep his world interesting, but it’s his family members that really take the cake. His daughter may be having a nervous breakdown, and his mother’s just out of prison for attempting to poison the president’s dog. And when they hit the road with a geriatric, an adoptive son trying to discover his parentage, and an enraged psychopath on their tails, all hell may break loose.

Reviewers have variously compared Tim Sandlin to Jack Kerouac, Tom Robbins, Larry McMurtry, John Irving, Kurt Vonnegut, and a few other writers you’ve probably heard of. He wrote five novels about his problems and then ran out of problems so he wrote movies because, he says, you don't have to have problems to write movies. After a few years of that he developed all new problems so he went back to novels. Sandlin has published nine novels and a book of columns. He wrote ten screenplays for hire; two have been made into movies. He turned forty with no phone, TV, or flush toilet and spent more time talking to the characters in his head than the people around him. He now has five phone lines, three TVs he doesn’t watch, three flush toilets, and a two-headed shower. Oh, and a Wii that he uses to pretend to do things he used to do for real. Sandlin and his wife recently adopted a little girl from China, and he is now living happily (indoors) with his family (wife, Carol; son, Kyle; daughter, Leila) in Jackson, Wyoming. www.timsandlin.com