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Charms for the Easy Life
Charms for the Easy Life
Author: Kaye Gibbons
A family without men, the Birches live gloriously offbeat lives in the lush, green backwoods of North Carolina.In a sad and singular era, they are unique among women of their time. For radiant, headstrong Sophia and her shy and brilliant daughter Margaret possess powerful charms to ward off loneliness, despair, and the human misery that all too ...  more »
Info icon
ISBN-13: 9780380722709
ISBN-10: 0380722704
Publication Date: 4/1/1994
Pages: 304
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 70

4 stars, based on 70 ratings
Publisher: Avon
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Charms for the Easy Life on + 18 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
Some of this country's strongest women emerged from the Great Depression and WWII. This book celebrates those women and their relationships. I felt like I was wrapped up in a warm blanket listening to stories about my grandmothers. Gibbons lends a wonderful voice to the young Southern girl and weaves relationships that aren't ashamed to show their flaws. I now remember why I enjoyed reading Ellen Foster many years ago.
CozyLover avatar reviewed Charms for the Easy Life on + 335 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This was a quick, easy read. Well written and interesting. A light read for the beach or pool!
reviewed Charms for the Easy Life on + 35 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Another Gibbons Great! She writes with such grace, her characters are so charmingly eccentric. I know when I pick up a Kaye Gibbons novel, I will never be dissapointed. Charms for the Easy Life is no exception!
roobaby75 avatar reviewed Charms for the Easy Life on + 4 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This is a wonderful book about three generations of strong women who refuse to be stereotyped. Beautifully written and inspiring. A piece of fiction that describes the kind of strength that a woman truly wishes for herself and her daughters.
reviewed Charms for the Easy Life on + 6 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Fantastic book. I love Kaye Gibbons, and I think this one is her best.
Read All 21 Book Reviews of "Charms for the Easy Life"

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bythebook avatar reviewed Charms for the Easy Life on
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'm not sure if I can really explain why. It was easy to read, and moved along quite well. The best thing was the quirky, interesting characters. My favorite was the grandmother. Oh, how I wish this had been a true story. Or at least, based on a real person. I didn't want it to end, but at least it didn't leave me unsatisfied with the ending.
scrappygal avatar reviewed Charms for the Easy Life on + 8 more book reviews
Not a book you "can't put down", but a good one nonetheless. Well written story about three women and their lives.
reviewed Charms for the Easy Life on + 55 more book reviews
Another Kaye Gibbons book that I enjoyed very much. Her characters come alive; Gibbons makes reader care what happens to every one of them.
KentuckyReader avatar reviewed Charms for the Easy Life on + 37 more book reviews
I loved this book. It was the first book i have read by Kaye Gibbons and it certainly will not be my last. It was very well written and in an easy, conversational dialogue.

The book details the lives of grandmother Clarissa "Charlie Kate" Birch, a smart, stubborn, quirky, self-taught alternative healer/midwife, the mother, Sophia, the most romantic of the family, and main character and daughter Margaret, practical, intelligent, yet romantic- are unique, they stand out from the average woman of the 1930s-1940s of the South. Yet at the same time, they have the same basic desire, to be loved and respected, as anyone else.

The story is told from granddaughter Margaret's point of view but mainly centers around the grandmother, the hero of the family. Charlie Kate is the larger-than-life character, an "Ubermensch." Charlie delivers babies, heals with herbs, reads two books a week, saved a person from a lynching; sewed body parts together, treated malaria, and comforted the dying, along with directing the lives of her daughter & granddaughter.
reviewed Charms for the Easy Life on + 68 more book reviews
My favorite of her books. Grandma, mother and daughter all sassy and extraordinary!


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