Flagg takes us back to Elmwood Springs, MO, the former home of the late Neighbor Dorothy Radio Show . The fall by one of Dorothy's former listeners, 80-plus-year-old Mrs. Elner Shimfissle, out of her fig tree as wasps attacked her, sets the whole town off into soul-searching journeys of self-assessment and discovery. Flagg's listeners will see that she still can mix humor, wisdom, and pathos in highly memorable characters that made the author's earlier books successes. This light, seriocomic novel asks deceptively existential questions about our purpose here on Earth and is read well by Cassandra Campbell, who captures the town folk's quirks, sweetness, and earnestness. Recommended.â€"Joyce Kessel, Villa Maria Coll., Buffalo, NY

The only thing more enjoyable than reading a Fannie Flagg novel is having Flagg read it aloud herself. A born storyteller, Flagg is a marvelous reader with a warm, welcoming Alabama accent. She immediately puts listeners at ease, priming them for an engrossing yarn that will mix laugh-out-loud hilarity with unabashed sentiment in a novel as thoughtful as it is delightful. Returning to Elmwood Springs, Miss. (the setting of two previous novels), Flagg focuses on a handful of days following octogenarian Elner Shimfissle's fatal fall from a tree. As listeners check in on various residents in town to see how they're reacting to the news and remembering how their lives were touched by the old woman, Flagg alternates bite-size chapters detailing Elner's journey to the afterlife. Flagg completely embodies her delightful characters, adapting a slight vocal scratch for eternally optimistic Elner, a flatter drawl for the ever-complaining hairdresser Tot and a sweet innocence as Elner's hilariously nervous niece, Norma. An uplifting delight. Simultaneous release with the Random House hardcover (reviewed online). (July)