Ana Mardoll rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ana-reviewed

A Wasp in the Fig Tree / B004TEYT1O

This is a truly wonderful excerpt that draws me in and makes me distressed that I can't read more. The writing is incredibly vivid and the descriptions are a perfect blend of visual imagery and the necessary restraint that keeps everything from coming out "technicolor". One line that really stuck with me was the jackrabbit's ears being so translucent against the sunrise that you could count your fingers through the ears. That imagery was just so beautiful and intense that I felt acutely like I was in the story. For that matter, the setting is wonderfully well-realized - too many authors have no idea what Texas looks like, but the author here is clearly working with first-hand knowledge and it shows.

I love the exquisite prose, and all the wonderful pain and sorrow you've brought to bear in a few short pages. I'm also really blown away at the story so far - tax evasion and suicide may not sound like real story winners, but it definitely hooked me. Overall, this is really a fantastic excerpt. It's not perfect - I felt a little confused at points as I worked out the family details, the backstory, and the main character's overall appearance - but I would definitely read more and if I'd been browsing this in a store, I would have closed and bought the book well before the end of the chapter.

NOTE: This review is based on a sample excerpt of this book provided through the ABNA contest.

~ Ana Mardoll

A Wasp in the fig tree, the compelling story of young Isabel and her Texas clan, is rich in literary flair. The characters, setting and plot have incredible depth, resonance, and vibrancy in this tale of family and friendship that explores the complex cultures, prejucdies, and history of South Texas.

A Wasp in the Fig Tree
by

Mary Bryan Stafford

Story Circle Book Reviews's review

Jan 13, 2015

it was amazing

bookshelves: reviewed

Every so often, a great book comes along—one with an exciting story, full of twists and turns, one that pulls you into another world that you'd like to stay in for awhile, one with carefully polished writing and real world dialogue. A Wasp in the Fig Tree by Mary Bryan Stafford is such a book.

Set in South Texas, in 1958, this story is a coming-of-age tale about 14-year-old Isabel who comes to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle. There's a swimming pool, Italian tile, and a sprawling house. Her mother is there too, after a divorce, but seems to always be busy writing college papers in a quest to find her identity.

Isabel (a gringa) must learn to navigate her new life as well—specifically, Marisol, "the help"—who is four years older than she. One of Marisol's duties is to bring toast to Isabel and her aunt in bed. The aunt buys Isabel "perky little bathing suits with terry cloth jackets to match" and new Roy Rogers cowboy boots. Of course animosity between the two girls is bound to grow.

Marisol taunts Isabel into her first horseback ride and purposely kicks the horse's sides. She challenges Isabel to eat a jalapeño pepper. There were more escapades—one involving firecracker retaliation on Isabel's part—only to backfire, literally. The author pegs it right about Marisol: "She was full of black lies and skullduggery."

They live in a town divided by the railroad tracks, where there are two of everything—drugstores, clothing stores, movie theaters—one for gringos, one for Tejanos (Texans of Hispanic descent).

Isabel and her best friend, Burt Charles, share many adventures on the ranch—riding horses and watching ranch hands dip cattle for parasites or castrate bull calves. Most importantly, they try to figure out what's going on in the lives of the adults around them, who seem to be hiding the truth. The author begins her book with an anonymous quote: "People live longer down here if they keep their mouths shut." This is a sign of things to come.

Beyond the coming-of-age story, there is a political mystery. And what's interesting is that there's a part of this fictional story that is linked in real life to the author. It turns out that the fictional character, Isabel, is the niece of George Parr, the infamous "Duke of Duval County," member of a corrupt political dynasty. The author is also a niece in the same family. There were rumors in 1948 that Parr finagled votes for Lyndon B. Johnson (bought or forged—some voters may have been "residents" of a cemetery, long since dead), winning Johnson his Senate seat. Parr was convicted of tax evasion in 1974 and given a ten-year prison term. He was found dead at his ranch on April 1, 1975, the apparent victim of suicide.

Written from a young person's perspective, this novel has something for everyone. Readers can relate to their own childhood and the way adult situations were sometimes confusing and misunderstood. There is edge-of-your-seat intrigue and excitement from chapter to chapter as political corruption (but also family love and honor) is played out. And there is an educational open door into Tex-Mex culture, as well as the intoxicating taste of the West. Buckle up your spurs. It's going to be a bumpy ride through the surprises, but a fluid, enjoyable one due to the gifted writing of Mary Bryan Stafford.

by Denise McAllister
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

Oct 17, 2014 Tony Burnett rated it it was amazing

Precocious 13-year-old Isabel Martin flees with her mother from an abusive father to the idyllic “Ranch of the Fig Trees” where her expectations meet with harsh reality. She finds both the climate and society of the South Texas ranching community of the 1950s to be less welcoming than she had hoped, though she worships her uncle Atlee Parr, who is both a gentle soul and the patriarch of a wealthy political family.

This finely crafted novel features multiple intricately woven storylines presented with the intimate authenticity of a well written memoir. Foremost, in A Wasp In the Fig Tree, is the questionable workings of the rural political machinery rampant in the middle of the 20th century in Texas. Isabel is thrust by circumstance into facing the possibility her uncles are involved in corrupt election practices. Other storylines include her single mother’s quest for an advanced degree at a time when this was uncommon, the divisive racial restrictions imposed by 1950s society and a budding romantic relationship with a childhood playmate as they reach puberty.

Stafford’s uncompromising prose is both eloquent and colloquial, sometimes bordering on poetic. She crafts her narrative with an economy of words uncommon in literary fiction. The novel is suitable for anyone from middle grade to someone like me who lived through this time in history. It’s a mystery featuring political intrigue, civil rights issues, and an accurate portrait of the politics that boosted Lyndon B. Johnson towards the presidency. Being set in Texas, the novel also features horses, oil wells, cattle, cowboys and corrals, deftly woven into the story like a deep breath of dry desert air. Without giving away any spoilers, I will say the novel ends with a very satisfying twist putting the questions of who is good and who is evil safely to rest.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who would appreciate a spot on analysis of mid-20th-century politics, anyone who loves a good mystery or anyone who can appreciate a coming-of-age story. Stafford’s novel is as big as the West Texas sky and as intense as the lightning in a summer thunderstorm.