Never Judge A Book By Its Cover, Or Its Size - "The Pecan Man" by Cassie Dandridge Selleck

I love pecans.  Really love pecans.

So when I found out my book club's December selection was "The Pecan Man," I thought, "oh, great a southern mystery and it involves pecans."

However, when I received the book, I was shocked by the fact that it was so small.  It's not much bigger than a pamphlet.  At not even 100 pages, I guess you could call it a "novela."  My first reaction was, "Are you kidding me?"

But despite its brevity, there is nothing small at all about the story it tells.  A brilliant piece of fiction written by Cassie Dandridge Selleck , which puts me in mind of "To Kill A Mockingbird."

Painful and provocative, nostalgic and meaningful.

Well worth the read.  A very small investment of time for a really great book.  

A winner.

"In the summer of 1976, recently widowed and childless, Ora Lee Beckworth hires a homeless old black man to mow her lawn.  The neighborhood children call hime the Pee-can Man; their mothers call them inside whenever he appears.  When he is arrested for murder, only Ora knows what really happened in the woods where Eddie lived.  But truth is a fickle thing, and a lie is self-perpetuating.  Ora and her maid Blanche soon find themselves in a web of lies that send an innocent man to prison for the rest of his life.  Twenty-five years later, Ora sets out to tell the truth about the Pecan Man.  (C) From "The Pecan Man" by Cassie Dandridge Selleck (2012 - all rights reserved)