Peachtree Road

In Anne Rivers Siddon's Peachtree Road, a long saga and coming-of-age historical woman's fiction novel that takes place from the 1950s to the 1970s in Atlanta, Georgia. Told from the narrator, Shephard Bondurant, he told the story about the arrival of his cousin Lucy and the life they lived on Peachtree Road with his aunt and two other cousins all in one roof. Throughout the years, these two cousins were inseparable as siblings, he told how Lucy came into their lives and how she became a hellion in such a young life.  While it mainly focused on Shep "Gibby" Bondurant through his lives, it showcased how they grew up in a rich family through the changing years. While Lucy hadn't known her father, Shep was close to his folks as an only child, until they've grown apart. In three parts, this reflected on their adolescent youth to how Shep found true love with his neighbor Sarah Cameron, while Lucy had a rough childhood and a turbulent marriage at a young age. Later on, they grew up to deal with such heartache from loss in family and friends, broken hearts, domestic violence and abuse, and for Lucy, motherhood. After Lucy gave birth to Malory, her only daughter, Shep told how he had dealt with Lucy's manic depression and alcoholic days and the many treatments she went through to clean up her act. After when she had a clean slate with some happiness as Malory grew up and found love of her own, Shep told how Lucy snapped until he couldn't deal with her anymore, until her own death happened to bring it full circle to how the story started.

Although long, this was a heart-wrenching historical Southern woman's fiction novel. I did care for Gibby, who had been dealt with a lot in the span of the story. And every chance he wanted to get with Sarah, his cousin called, until it tore them apart. I did feel sorry for Lucy, when she had harbored a lot of abuse and mental issues throughout the years, until she took matters in her own hands at the end. I did love the backdrop of Atlanta and NYC for the dual locations of the novel's settings, and how it changed and shifted throughout three decades or so along with the times. Though we might now know the mystery if Gibby really had fathered Malory or not. This would make you want to cry, yell, and sigh for the long haul. This has plenty of non-stop drama, action, romance, and plenty of intrigue on how they grew up and dealt with it all from start to finish.

Will you visit Peachtree Road?