Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

 

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

by Fannie Flagg

If you're sensitive about racist language in books, this one is not for you. Taking place in Alabama through various points in time from the Depression era into the mid-1980s, Fried Green Tomatoes is rife with the 'n' word.

That aside, I enjoyed the book very much. The story follows two story lines that are connected by Mrs. Virginia "Ninny" Threadgoode who, as a young woman, lived in Whistle Stop, Alabama, but comes to reside in a nursing home in Birmingham as an older woman where she meets Evelyn Couch, a sad middle-aged woman who is intent on eating herself into the grave.

Evelyn is going through menopause and is dissatisfied with her life, questioning all of her choices and what kind of a person she is and wants to be. She fantasizes about being tougher, more confident. During Evelyn's visits to the Rose Terrace Nursing Home where her husband's mother lives, she encounters Mrs. Threadgoode who tells her the story of the Whistle Stop Cafe and its proprietors, Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison.

The bulk of the book recounts Idgie and Ruth's relationship, which seems to me to be very progressive for a novel published in 1987, and even more progressive for the town in Alabama in which the story takes place in the early to mid-1900s. Idgie, the tomboy (read lesbian) takes a shine to Ruth who is set to be married. The two meet as young women and Idgie develops her lasting love for Ruth who eventually gets married to an abusive jerk. When Ruth leaves him she reaches out to Idgie, whom she has harbored secret affection for for years and the two set up house in Whistle Stop where they open the cafe and their adventures ensue with the various colorful townsfolk, both white and black. They have run-ins with the Ku Klux Klan, navigate an accident that leaves their little boy, Stump, with only one full arm, and even the murder of Ruth's husband.

It is a fun book, lighthearted, with excellent sarcasm and humor. Dot Weems's Weekly Bulletin had me laughing out loud. It also explores a woman's identity versus societal expectations, and accepting the person you are while also trying to be the best version of that person that you can be.

For all of that, I give the book 4 stars. I ended the read not really missing the characters and ready to move on to the next book. Though I liked it, Fried Green Tomatoes didn't leave me wanting more. I'm glad I read it. It differs in some significant ways from the film, especially at the end. Recommended for non-sensitive readers, but I'm sure I wouldn't read it again.