The Mother Tongue

by Teri Holbrook

Book Overview

Gale Grayson has come back to Statlers Cross, Georgia, to write, hoping to find in her quiet hometown the strength to confront the memories and mysteries of her husband's life and death. But the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553577190
• ISBN13: 9780553577198
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Crimeline
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Interesting story

Gale Grayson has moved back to the rural town of Statlers Cross, Georgia from England after her husband Tom's suicide. There are many issues she has to face and she is hoping that the time she spends back can be used in writing her memoirs. She returned with her daughter, Katie Pru and with her friend, Nadianna Jesup and her infant son. It seems that Gale had other adventures in Teri Holbrook's other novels but I have not read them. Scotland Yard Detective David Halford comes to visit Ms. Grayson to try and spend some time with her.During her homecoming several people have moved to this Georgia town. Dr. Ron Goddard, an English linguist, came to Statlers Cross to study language and dialects from the remote town. The other newcomers are the Nguyen family who everyone looks at suspiciously. First of all, they do not speak very good English and second, they painted their home K-Mart Blue Light Special Blue. This is not welcome by the community and they are vocal about it. The big crime there is a triple homicide where two people including the son's mayor are gunned down in their car. In the backseat is Tuan Nguyen who is bound and shot. This crime and the immigrants ignite the small town prejudices in the town from the subtle local Monday's Woman's Group (the Monday Morning Militant Moms) to the redneck throwing Molotov cocktails at the Vietnamese home. There are times when the book gets to be a bit wordy but it does leave an impression of you. One does not discover the truth until the very end but I think it can be easy to figure out. I enjoyed Ms. Holbrook's novel and I intend to search for her previous novels when I get the chance. I wish I could fully recommend it but this book might turn off some people. The author introduces to many characters and it takes it a while to figure out who's who, there are several references to previous novels, and this is not what can be considered a quick read. However, she does an excellent job in showing small town sensitivities (as well as insensitivity) and it shows how one small assumption can be blown out of proportion. If you like Deborah Crombie's Kincaid and James mysteries, you might want to give Ms. Holbrook a chance.

Interesting story

Gale Grayson has moved back to the rural town of Statlers Cross, Georgia from England after her husband Tom's suicide. There are many issues she has to face and she is hoping that the time she spends back can be used in writing her memoirs. She returned with her daughter, Katie Pru and with her friend, Nadianna Jesup and her infant son. It seems that Gale had other adventures in Teri Holbrook's other novels but I have not read them. Scotland Yard Detective David Halford comes to visit Ms. Grayson to try and spend some time with her.During her homecoming several people have moved to this Georgia town. Dr. Ron Goddard, an English linguist, came to Statlers Cross to study language and dialects from the remote town. The other newcomers are the Nguyen family who everyone looks at suspiciously. First of all, they do not speak very good English and second, they painted their home K-Mart Blue Light Special Blue. This is not welcome by the community and they are vocal about it. The big crime there is a triple homicide where two people including the son's mayor are gunned down in their car. In the backseat is Tuan Nguyen who is bound and shot. This crime and the immigrants ignite the small town prejudices in the town from the subtle local Monday's Woman's Group (the Monday Morning Militant Moms) to the redneck throwing Molotov cocktails at the Vietnamese home. There are times when the book gets to be a bit wordy but it does leave an impression of you. One does not discover the truth until the very end but I think it is easy to figure out. I enjoyed Ms. Holbrook's novel and I intend to search for her previous novels when I get the chance. I wish I could fully recommend it but this book might turn off some people. The author introduces to many characters and it takes it a while to figure out who's who, there are several references to previous novels, and this is not what can be considered a quick read. However, she does an excellent job in showing small town sensitivities (as well as insensitivity) and it shows how one small assumption can be blown out of proportion. If you like Deborah Crombie's Lynley and Havers mysteries, you might want to give Ms. Holbrook a chance.

Richly Rewarding . . . .

Ignore the Publisher's Weekly critique. The Mother Tongue is a gem, and a worthy successor to Ms. Holbrook's three earlier Gale Grayson novels -- in some ways, perhaps, the best of them yet. The intertwined tales and sub-plots join together into an intriguing and captivating whole, each part with enough detail and mystery to spark and keep your interest while not overwhelming the overall work. For those readers who perchance to pick up The Mother Tongue as their first Holbrook read, there is sufficient detail on the characters' history to make the story complete; yet not so much as to become boringly repetitious for those who have read all three predecessors. I purchased the book on Saturday afternoon and completed it Sunday evening. With all that I cram into my schedule, that's something that rarely happens. Even though I'm an avid reader, only the most well-crafted books capture my interest SO intently that they don't get put down until finished. The Mother Tongue is one of them.

If mysteries can be poignant, this one is

Gale Grayson returns to her hometown of Statlers Cross, Georgia, but quickly realizes neither she nor her daughter Katie Pru belongs in the reclusive town any longer. Gale traveled to England and married a poet who actually was a terrorist. Her spouse killed someone before committing suicide. Some years after having his child, she returned to the states to try to regain the sense of family that she lost in England.Trouble begins in the lily-white town when the Nguyens, a Vietnamese family, move in. The locals are outraged when the Nguyens paint their new home a glossy blue because they feel that the newcomers disrespect their town. When three men die, including the son of the Nguyens, the town's suppressed hostility explodes with a molotov cocktail tossed through the Vietnamese family's window. Gale becomes a one-person detective in a town that already rejects her as one of them by taking the beleaguered family into her home.THE MOTHER TONGUE is a harsh look at the prejudices and snobbery that is the cornerstone of some small towns. While not a cozy or an armchair mystery, the plot is a who-done-it from the town's perspective, a unique personalization of a place. The characters seem real, but it is the heroine and the Nguyens who brings the good, the bad, and the ugly out of everyone. Gale is flawed but the audience will admire her moral stand regardless of consequences. This novel makes both a social commentary and a statement of the times in what is an excellent series that hopefully will have the next book out soon.Harriet Klausner