The Tea-Olive Bird Watching Society

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 240 pages
• Published by: Plume July 25, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0452287499
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0452287495
• Book Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Weighs: 7.2 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
Treading the familiar ground of women's friendship in the South, Trobaugh's sixth novel (after The River Jordan) exalts the bonds among Beulah, Zion, Wildwood and Sweet, four Tea-Olive, Ga., churchgoing ladies (all named after hymns) and founding members of the titular society. Trobaugh chronicles how Beulah and Zion come to plot the murder of Judge Hyson Breed, a New Yorker who retires to their quiet town, seduces Sweet into marriage and then bullies her into giving up not only her ancestral land but also her lifelong friends. He ingratiates himself with the merchants of Tea-Olive and insinuates himself into the town leadership for his own nefarious purposes. Readers who like their villains irredeemably evil and their heroines glowing "with that special shine of women who do good for the community and who love the Lord with all their hearts" may forgive the predictability of the plot and enjoy the well-meaning characters forced by dire circumstances to draw on all of their resourcefulness to protect their friends, their town and their cherished values—while remaining unfailingly polite. Less forgiving readers may be unamused by Beulah and Zion's attempts at vigilante justice against their cardboard nemesis.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
The sleepy North Georgia town of Tea-Olive gets a lovely windfall when one of its recently deceased citizens leaves her estate to the town library except for a portion of woods that she bequeaths to the remaining ladies in her circle of bird-watchers. Then a newly arrived judge, a Yankee no less, comes to town and buys the estate's house. Freely spending, he weaves a charming spell on the townsfolk. His web enmeshes one of the naive bird-watching ladies, and she runs off and marries him. The newcomer gets himself onto the town's library board, and it quickly becomes evident that his interest is not benignly bibliophilic. The balance of the bird-watching ladies leap to the defense of their sister, whom it appears the judge has trapped in an abusive marriage. These aging, genteel southern belles soon find themselves plotting the ultimate vengeance. Trobaugh's prose flows easily, and the humor in her portrait of southern life is exceeded solely by her obvious affection for the delightful characters that people this tale. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: The Tea-Olive Bird-Watching Society (Hardcover) The Tea-Olive Bird Watching Society by Augusta Trobaugh explores the friendships of 5 genteel Southern women, members of a bird watching society in the town of Tea-Olive. And once you meet these women I doubt you will ever be able to forget them either. When a member of the society dies, she bequeaths the sale of her home to the town library but also leaves a portion of the land to her fellow bird watchers. Then a new man movies into town, a retired judge and buys their friends home. And one of them, Sweet with plenty of her own land sets her sights on the judge. When she marries him rather quickly and knowing little about him, her friends appear to be happy for her. And some of them even wonder what if any are this man's true motives. After the honeymoon though, Sweet is unavailable to her friends and can't seem to find time to see them And then the flat tire on her car is never fixed which renders her almost helpless. The worst, though, is when her friends are finally able to see her and she's sporting a big black eye which she claim occurred when she fell. Now her friends don't waste any time joining forces to protect their dear friend. What they find out reveals a man not only with a dubious past but a sinister plot to gain more land and develop the property for tract housing. Now these women will stop at nothing to help Sweet. Maybe even including a little murder. I couldn't help but think that the woman were a bit reminiscent of the wonderful sisters from the classic movie Arsenic and Old Lace. And at times I couldn't help but laugh our loud at their antics. While I enjoyed an earlier book, Sophie and the Rising Sun, by this author more, her latest title is a good book filled with lots of black humor. At times I found myself almost laughing out loud at some of the antics of these women who not only watch out for birds but also watch out for each other. And as I closed the last page I too wished I had friends like these women who were not only protective but so loving and caring. I do recommend this book as a lovely read before a fireplace on a cold winter's night.