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Brad Barkley's new novel ALISON'S AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR MANUAL is the type of fable about southern living that belongs right beside Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize- winning masterpiece TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Although Barkley's novel does not encounter the racial overtones of Lee's 1961 bestseller, ALISON'S AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR MANUAL paints an enriching landscape of everyday life in Wiley Ford, West Virginia through the eyes of protagonist and recently widowed Alison Durst.
In an attempt to reconcile with the loss of her husband Marty, Alison is living with her sister Sarah and brother-in-law Bill and stumbles upon a 1976 Corvette in their garage that is in dire need of attention. The similarities between Lee's Atticus Finch, a widower with two small children on his hands, and Alison are remarkable. While Atticus does all he can to raise his children right while defending a wrongly accused black man during the Depression, Alison struggles with her identity in a contemporary southern town with people who aren't too comfortable with a woman peeking her head under the hood of a sports car and getting grease under her fingernails. Instead of getting on with her life and returning to teaching at the nearby college, Alison tackles the task of repairing the Corvette without knowing a thing about auto repair and this is where Barkley's work shines the most.
While her sister Sarah and her husband Bill can only shake their heads in disbelief over Alison's attempt at salvaging the Corvette, Alison is befriended by Max Kesler, the local demolitions expert and, before long, Alison turns the ignition key and her 'Vette roars to life.
Barkley, author of the acclaimed novel MONEY, LOVE, adds a snippet from Haynes Automotive Repair Manual: Chevrolet Corvette, 1968 Thru 1982 before each of the 14 chapters of the book that somehow correlate with the flow of the story and the progress of the restoration of Alison's beloved chariot. Barkley's description of the nuances involved in repairing the tattered Corvette is magnificent. With the Haynes manual by her side and with the help of Mr. Beachy, the owner of AAAA Auto Parts, the car gets as much an overhaul as Alison can afford.
The novel also contains a bittersweet love story between Alison and Max, the father of Gordon Kesler, the town's outspoken compulsive liar. Alison does all she can to keep the thoughts of her late husband Marty close to her heart, while realizing that falling in love with somebody like Max could be exactly what the doctor ordered. Or could it? Meanwhile, Max, who has a tattoo of cartoon character Yosemite Sam, fears Alison is getting to close to his lying father during routine visits to Sarah's house, where a group of elderly residents from the nearby nursing home come to take dance lessons on a weekly basis.
While the pace of the book may seem stuck in first gear to some readers, the entire story is completely well thought out and contains a conclusion that ties the entire message of the story together extremely well. The novel is also filled with hysterics that seem to happen at just the right time. Whether it's Barkley's comical depiction of Alison and Max attending Bingo night or the calamity of Gordon Kesler's countless fabrications, there is plenty of laughter to go around.
Not enough can be said of Barkley's depiction of life in a sleepy southern town like Wiley Ford. From the description of the garage that houses Alison's Corvette, to the insides of the auto parts store complete with a bubble gum machine or the details of the local diner, Barkley has ALISON'S AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR MANUAL firing on all cylinders.
--- Reviewed by David Exum
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