Farley Brothers Drugs & Sundries

By Kathryn North

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0759944377
• ISBN13: 9780759944374
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Hard Shell Word Factory
• Length: 172 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.0" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Storytelling at its finest!

Farley Brothers Drugs and Sundries and Other Stories is an engaging collection of short stories that take place in small town or rural settings. The stories range from sweet romance to poignant realism, but always with characterizations that are real, crisp, and three-dimensional-Norman Rockwell could have painted them. The settings are vividly drawn and the dialogues crackle with tension. The title story, "Farley Brothers Drugs and Sundries," is a touching tale about a single woman who fears her chances for romance in her small town have reached a dead end, until she finally lands a date with the new owner of the feedstore, and her life begins to turn in a new direction-just not in the direction you might imagine. FBD & S is filled with keen observation of the townspeople, plenty of humor (the eyelash scene will have you in stitches), and a developing romance or two, but don't expect your typical romance ending. "Allie's Daring Adventure" shows what lengths a mature woman will go to for love. Hilarious! "A Match for a Firecracker." Even the title of this one promises explosive entertainment. A stubborn woman softball player wrangles with a handsome, equally headstrong umpire. "Cousin Stan Turns on the Charm." Stan's a charmer of elderly women, enough so they want to do things like bake pies for him and his visiting cousin, Roy. But what happens when charm meets truth? Will Stan get his just desserts? This story reads like an entertaining episode of The Golden Girls. "Driving Delbert Lemieux's Second-Best Hearse." Will Studs and Manny get the body to Blackduck on time or will a young hitchhiker named Leanne cause them to lose their way? Chock full of suspense and downright funny! Some of the stories in this anthology take on more serious themes. In "Living in the Land of the North Wind," a woman contemplating divorce becomes stranded in a snowstorm with her husband. This is a great character study on how men and women view relationships. "My Brother's Wife" is a realistic look at a family plagued with drug and alcohol addiction until Dale finds hope through an unexpected source. In "A Man of Means," Garner Holsapple is a man who can put Ebenezer Scrooge to shame. Can a man of such means grow as a person or is he doomed to shrivel up in a world of his own making? This is a notable tale about the consequences of making choices in life, no matter the hand one may have been dealt early in life. Kathryn North has woven together a superb story collection, one that's guaranteed to tickle your funny bone at times and give you pause to reflect on the human condition at others. Those who appreciate well-written fiction, as I do, will thoroughly enjoy Farley Brothers Drugs and Sundries and Other Stories. Review by Jeanne Allen, co-author of Twilight Crossings, Eppie Finalist, 2004