The Three Miss Margarets: The Three Miss Margarets: A Novel

by Louise Shaffer

Book Overview

Miss Peggy, Dr. Maggie, and Miss Li'l Bit, friends and confidantes for nearly a lifetime, find it funny and bewildering that they have become icons in Charles Valley, Georgia. Little does the rest of the town know that beneath the irreproachable fa ades of its three doyennes lies an explosive decades-old secret that is about to be revealed. Thirty-odd years ago the three Miss Margarets did something extraordinary, clandestine, and very illegal. Although...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375760881
• ISBN13: 9780375760884
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Ballantine Group
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Southern Historical Fiction with a Mystery

This is a Southern Women's Fiction with Mystery/historical fiction, and this is the first book in the Miss Margarets series. I have to start by saying some of my favorite books as old Southern Women characters, and this book has three Old Southern Women characters who I loved so much. The beginning of this book may this book feel like it was going to be a romance, but it is not. I like the flashbacks parts, and I really love seeing the Miss Margarets stories. There is a lot about old Southern history and a mystery that has been hind for a long time. I have to say this book has some of my favorite book characters, and I will also love a book that takes place in a small Southern town.

What a great read

The Three Miss Margarets is an outstanding novel that keeps the reader turning pages into the night. While it could be called Southern gothic, it has a different plot twist that is totally unexpected. The characters are marvelous--surely they live just down the street; we know them all. The writing is crisp and clear, the dialogue and settings realistic, and the cliff hangers at the end of each chapter make it difficult to put the book down. I enjoyed this novel more than any I have read all summer--and I read a lot. Great job. I hope we hear more from Louise Shaffer.

A literary beach read

Old Southern reticence is penetrated and old Southern secrets are revealed in dribs and drabs as Laurel and boyfriend Josh struggle to make sense of what Maggie, Peggy, and Margaret (the 3 Margarets of the title) will and won't reveal about their own pasts as well as that of their town. It all starts when Laurel spies the three old ladies huddling in a 'deserted cabin' and then later the body of a famous African-American geneticist is discovered in the cabin. Dum-de-dum-dum.It's great.

Simply Outstanding

Not often am I moved to write a review of a book, even though I read constantly, but there was no question I had to write in for "The Three Miss Margarets." This book is outstanding in every way: the quality of writing, the story, the characters. Never has a story so well portrayed the strength and character of the women of the south. They have to make this into a movie, it is THAT good.I certainly hope that Ms. Shaffer writes more like this one!

Three Cheers for the Three Miss Margarets

I started this book on the recommendation of a friend and couldn't put it down once I started. The titular Three Miss Margarets are fascinating women, described in beautiful detail by Louise Shaffer. There is a good old-fashioned mystery behind the secret the three women share, but I read the book not just to find out what they were hiding but to get to know them better. And I did. Some moments in their lives broke my heart, some ticked me off. But I always felt. It's a wonderful writer who can not just pique your curiosity but move you emotionally, and Louise Shaffer does just that. I've passed this book along to a number of friends and family members who have all shared the same opinion.

Three Miss Margarets a five-star story

By the end of Louise Shaffer's dazzling debut Southern-gothic novel, The Three Miss Margarets, one heartbreaking mystery is solved and another, far more puzzling one is presented: Where in tarnation has the author been until now? Yep, she's that good. Not only do the steel magnolias of the title form a ya-ya sisterhood whose secrets are truly divine, but in spinning a yarn that spans three generations, Shaffer creates an instant classic that is sure to be revered for at least as many decades. Take the book to the beach and dive right in.