Under the Magnolias by T.I. Lowe
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Web ID: 1435267926 reviews
Amazing story, highly recommend!!
I read this book a few years ago, and being in a reading slump, I thought what better time than to re-read a book I enjoy... and I loved it. This book has everything I love: family, faith, love, and an emotional but beautiful story. Austin is one of my favorite book characters. After losing her mother too soon, and her father facing his inner darkness, she steps up as the oldest to care for her 6 younger siblings. I could relate to her in the ways she would do anything for her siblings, and the love, grit, and determination she displays for her family and pa throughout his struggles. She is such a strong sister and daughter, showing unconditional and sacrificial love. This book tackles heavier topics surrounding mental illness, and T.I. Lowe did a great job of showcasing the ups and downs that impact a family while also displaying a supportive community, engaging side characters, humorous moments, and a sweet, slow-burn romance. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator, Susan Bennett, is fantastic! I highly recommend it if you enjoy listening to your books✨ Content to consider: Loss of a parent, mental illness, self-harm, and suicide attempt (heavy, not graphic), kisses only romance, no language
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Just what I needed!
I was in a rut and could not put my hands on a good book. After reading Sapiens (awful!!) I needed something to stir my soul. On my second book now and ordering this one for my sister. Bravo Ms Lowe!!!! Very well done and you have restored my faith in people.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Tackling tough issues with tenderness
This coming-of-age piece of Southern fiction is set in 1980-1987 in South Carolina. Despite the heavy themes of a father’s mental illness and a mother’s death, there’s plenty of humor to be found here. Austin (AKA Ox), the oldest daughter-turned-caregiver, interacts with folks around town: Foxy and Jinx, Miss Wise, Morty, Tripp, Walynn, and Vance Cumberland. Vance, the mayor’s son, walks a tightrope between family expectations and personal interests. Over time, they all end up at Dave Foster’s church, as a result of his outreach. Austin sees them every week when her pa preaches. That is, when church isn’t canceled. At first I wondered how some of the scenes with these folks fit into the plot, but just wait. Everything ties in eventually. Everything matters. This story covers Austin’s life from ages thirteen to twenty. In high school, Vance takes a shine to her, even though they’re on different sides of the social tracks. His life is full of traditions inherited from his political family. She’s a farmer’s daughter whose free time is squashed by family demands while playing the role of mother to six siblings–on top of caring for her father. Pa at his best is a loving, thoughtful father. But there’s no predicting his moods. He misses his wife terribly, but that’s not his only problem. At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to keep track of all the kids. But after a while, I felt like I was living with them and knew them quite well with their unusual names and unique personalities. The only thing I didn’t care for was the prologue, which is a 1987 scene. The rest of the story begins in 1980. Without the context, it was more confusing than not. In case that’s off-putting to you, press on anyhow.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Wonderful
I loved this book. Can’t stop thinking about how much I enjoyed it.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Great Read
I really loved this book. The writing is fantastic! I feel like anyone can relate to Austin in a sense life is not fair and sometimes we have to keep on. It is what we make of it.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Beautiful story of family & sacrifice
This story was absolutely beautiful. Quite honestly, there really is no need for a further review. It is a coming of age wrapped in a story of family. And the sacrifices that go along with it when life deals you hand that you didn't expect. It's also about loyalty. Stubborn loyalty in the what can sometimes be an unbearable weight and also a weight lifted on someone who needed it most. Austin's story is one that likely happens far more often than we as a society care to admit. It is a story of struggle and loss. But also reminds us to love our family "in both the sunshine and the thunderstorms." And sometimes. the thunderstorms threaten to crumble us. But when things crumble, it allows life to start over and grow anew.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Powerful story!
WOW, what a powerful story! I think I’m going to need a few days to absorb this one before I can start another book. I highly recommend!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Finding Family Under the Magnolias
T. I. Lowe did something I don’t remember ever seeing in a storyline about mental health. All too often, the storyline focuses on a family sucked into the vortex of a parent’s mental health issues and struggles that end only when the children run away or grow up and escape the madness. And all too often in life, this is reality; I am in no way dismissing the painful reality of families battling mental illness. But who is fighting for these families? Austin Foster’s pa has been prone to seasons of darkness for as long as she can remember, but her mama always did what needed to be done to shelter the children from the worst of his lows. When Mama passes away while giving birth to twins, the weight of her family’s world falls squarely on her shoulders, and that includes protecting her younger siblings while weathering Pa’s highs and lows. Austin doesn’t have time for silly teenage activities or romances, and she certainly can’t take the chance that someone in town might find out what demons they are hiding under the magnolias out at Nolia Farms. The thing about Dave Foster is that he loves fiercely. He takes the call to be the hands and feet of Jesus very seriously, so it is no surprise that the congregation meeting in the little white chapel at Nolia Farms includes a ragtag band of the town’s riffraff outcasts. But these are the people God uses to be his hands and feet when the secrets Austin has tried to keep buried claw their way into the light. They are the ones who support the Foster family through the struggles of finding help for Dave, and who encourage Austin and her siblings to begin to dream of a life beyond the swirling vortex of his instability. Lowe does not sugarcoat the struggles, and I really appreciate the way she highlights the value of a fierce support system in the family’s healing process.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com