THE FIXER UPPER
Mary Kay Andrews
Harper
Fiction
ISBN: 9780060837389
THE FIXER UPPER is a novel with heart, and its heart is all about family. The book stars Dempsey Jo Killebrew, a young and naïve Washington, D.C. lobbyist who unwittingly gets tangled up in a political scandal and thrown under the bus by her attractive and powerful boss. Fired from her job, caught in the political news spotlight and lacking in prospects, her father offers her a project to keep her busy and maintain a roof over her head: move to Guthrie, Georgia, and fix up Birdsong, the old family home to ready it for sale.
Given the lack of other likely options, Dempsey agrees, and finds herself in a small backwoods town with no Starbucks and an old, falling-apart house that is going to need far more than a quick cleanup and a coat of paint. Stranger still is the old woman squatting in Birdsong, a decidedly unfriendly relative who would just as soon see Dempsey head right back where she came from. But our heroine is not about to quit and run, and she slowly starts making some connections in her new hometown, including a father-son legal team, the town flirt/real estate agent, and a couple of FBI agents. As she starts to put the remains of Birdsong --- and her life --- back together, she discovers that relationships and family ties can bloom in the most unlikely places.
With THE FIXER UPPER, author Mary Kay Andrews has created an engaging read with a host of crazy characters befitting their classic southern setting. The heroine (and her love interest) is thoroughly likable, but the real stars of this novel are the supporting players, including Jimmy Maynard, the smooth-talking real estate agent who holds a secret talent for wooing women AND painting houses; Bobby Livesey, the sweet contractor who helps Dempsey realize the possibilities Birdsong might hold in its old bones; Carter Berryhill, the widowed lawyer who first extends the hand of friendship in Guthrie; and Allgood and Harrell, the FBI agents who track down Dempsey in the small Georgia town in the hopes of forcing her to help them snare her former boss. They all bring Guthrie to life, and readers will keep hoping for more and more glimpses of them as Dempsey’s drama unfolds.
Andrews has a firm grasp on her subject matter and an obvious love for the characters she creates. True to Andrews’s natural Southern hospitality (and love for cooking), there are even a few tasty-looking recipes thrown in to round things out.
As Dempsey’s Washington, D.C. struggles threaten to catch up with her in small-town Georgia, she finds that life is giving her an opportunity to rethink what she knows, including how she defines herself, the ties that bind her to her family, and the things that matter in life. Perfect for a long weekend on the beach, THE FIXER UPPER is as satisfying as a cold glass of sweet tea on a hot summer day.
--- Reviewed by Lourdes Orive
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