MBenzz's Reviews > Sins of the 7th Sister

This book has been sitting on my wish list for well over a year. The whole 'Story of the Gothic South' thing was holding me back. I was expecting something dark and disturbing. Instead, I got what is now one of my all-time favorite books.

Huston Curtiss was 7 years old in 1929, living on a farm in West Virginia with his beautiful do-gooder mother, and about 15 other people that his mother took in to live with them in their huge home. What I loved about this book was that it has it all. Murder, suicide, love, heartbreak, trans-gender, racial tensions, mistresses, and good 'ol southern charm.

The fact that this is a true story is amazing to me. This is Mr. Curtiss's story of his childhood...and you couldn't make this stuff up. What these people had to deal with in those days...no thanks. While most of the story takes place in 1929, he does take you further into the future, up to 1967, and explains what became of everyone, which I appreciated.

In the end, I can't recommend this book enough. It was funny, sad, tragic, heroic...everything you could possibly get out of a book, you get out of this one. I'm so glad I finally got this off my wish list and read it...although I am dying to know what Stanley/Stella's real name is!