Not surprisingly, the author of Fried Green Tomatoes revisits the South, but her novel takes in a larger swath of territory, ranging from Wisconsin to Texas. Flagg's heroine, from present-day Alabama, is intrigued by the story of five women working at a Phillips 66 gas station in 1943, just as Flagg was intrigued by the story of women who ran a gas station and flew in the WASPs during the war. Fans will be waiting; Flagg's latest, I Still Dream About You, sold over 500,000 copies across formats. Billed as a comic mystery, and note the author tour to Fairhope (AL), Mobile, Birmingham, Huntsville, Nashville, Bowling Green, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara.

Alabama sweetheart Sookie Poole has been a loving wife, a caring mother, and, most important, a patient daughter. Her formidable yet ailing mother never seemed to approve of her as a child. Now approaching 60, Sookie receives some unexpected news about her past that has her questioning both her family history and her mother's constant cold shoulder. While searching for answers, Sookie uncovers Fritzi Jurdabralinski, the eldest of four Polish sisters who ran an all-girl gas station during the 1940s in Pulaski, WI. During World War II, Fritzi became a Fly Girl, transporting military aircraft as a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). After learning of Fritzi's adventures, Sookie is inspired to reexamine her own life. VERDICT Yet again, Flagg (I Still Dream About You) delivers a book full of heartwarming charm that is sure to provoke lighthearted laughter. A complex story told simply and honestly, this is an easy read and another treat for Flagg fans. [See Prepub Alert, 5/13/13.]—Shannon Marie Robinson, Denison Univ. Lib., Granville, OH

Structured much like Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Flagg's latest novel alternates between the pedestrian life of Sookie Poole, a timid middle-aged southern woman and that of her brash, adventurous ancestry, a quartet of polish sisters who ran a filling station and flew planes during WWII. The cataclysmic event that unites these narratives is Sookie's discovery that she was adopted. Her journey into the history of her biological family is excruciatingly slow, but the history—particularly of the WASPs, a division of all-female pilots who flew support missions for the Air Force and were written promptly out of history after the war ended proves more entertaining and helps redeem the plot. The language is accessible and much of the backstory is delivered via letters, rendering the voices of the characters authentic, even if they are a bit stock—the archetypal aging southern lady heroine, for example, has a wacky new-age best friend, an overbearing mother, and a Yankee psychiatrist. Readers looking for nuance will not find it here, but there are plot twists, adventure, heartbreak, and familial love in spades, making this the kind of story that keeps readers turning pages in a fever. (Nov.)

Structured much like Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Flagg's latest novel alternates between the pedestrian life of Sookie Poole, a timid middle-aged southern woman and that of her brash, adventurous ancestry, a quartet of polish sisters who ran a filling station and flew planes during WWII. The cataclysmic event that unites these narratives is Sookie's discovery that she was adopted. Her journey into the history of her biological family is excruciatingly slow, but the history—particularly of the WASPs, a division of all-female pilots who flew support missions for the Air Force and were written promptly out of history after the war ended proves more entertaining and helps redeem the plot. The language is accessible and much of the backstory is delivered via letters, rendering the voices of the characters authentic, even if they are a bit stock—the archetypal aging southern lady heroine, for example, has a wacky new-age best friend, an overbearing mother, and a Yankee psychiatrist. Readers looking for nuance will not find it here, but there are plot twists, adventure, heartbreak, and familial love in spades, making this the kind of story that keeps readers turning pages in a fever. (Nov.)