Between, Georgia
by Joshilyn Jackson

Reviewed by Byron Merritt

Whether you’re a fan of the Montagues and the Capulets, or the Hatfields and McCoys, you’ll no doubt be familiar with the familial battles that abound in Joshilyn Jackson’s new novel, Between, Georgia. The book’s title is fitting; being representative of both the tiny Georgia community where the story is set and a microcosmic conflict between two families within it, the Fretts and the Crabtrees.

Told in first person by Nonny Frett — initially the daughter of a young Crabtree — she is the “between” anti-authoritarian stuck in a renewed struggle between her biological kin and her adopted family. When the Crabtree dogs attack Nonny’s mother (Stacia Frett), old wounds are opened anew between the two families and Nonny acts as a forced referee. Love, hate, gene pools, romance, and even comedy are the driving forces behind Between, Georgia as we witness a type of one-upmanship taking place after the dog attack. Nonny’s aunt, Bernise Frett-Baxter, shoots and kills one of the dogs. Then tires get slashed, more dogs die, and finally death comes near for the Frett family as the truly “bad Crabtrees” enter town to settle the feud once and for all. In the midst of all this, Nonny is trying to divorce her husband, Jonno, an adulterer who gave her The Clap but whom she still holds a grudging sexual attraction toward. Nonny’s adopted mother, Stacia, has Usher’s Syndrome, a disease that destroys one’s hearing and then robs them of their sight. And, to top it all off, Nonny is attracted to Henry Crabtree, a distant cousin who is obviously in love with her, too.

The middle of the novel will probably be the toughest for most readers to get through. It’s a bit slow but is beneficial to the story as a whole. The reader gets intimate with these characters and they’ll be completely unprepared for some devastating events that unfold in the later two-thirds of the story. Then, just when you feel like your heart can’t take it anymore, author Joshilyn Jackson makes your spirit soar with the slamming on of the brakes and a humorous “thump”.

From kissing cousins to tear-jerking brushes with death, Between, Georgia is a place I’m happy I visited (even if it is a fictional community). The action is slow to get going, but once the dynamics of these families hits the gas pedal, there’s no stopping them.