A cute, fluffy little story that came as a breath of fresh air after the weighty (but still excellent) Allende book I read just before it. The Cotton Queen, which takes place in McKinney, Texas (about 10 minutes from where I was born, raised and living still!) is a story told primarily as a flashback. When Laney Hoffman’s daughter comes home as that year’s Cotton Queen and wants her mother to ride in the parade, Laney reflects on her relationship with her mother, the Cotton Queen runner-up in the 1950s.
The story alternates chapters between Laney and her mother (Babs)’s perspectives, starting in the 1950s and running into present day. It’s a good story about how what people go through shapes and changes them forever. While Laney only ever saw her mother as a throwback, June Cleaver-type, while she herself planned to be a successful careerwoman, we see things differently from Babs’ perspective: a woman forced to adapt to the wishes of the men around her in order to raise her daughter.
It’s a sweet story, with some excellent perspectives from the two main characters. I also loved that it was set in McKinney (which I did not know when I picked it up!), which truly did go from a little cotton town in the 50s to the major Dallas suburb it is today. Morsi references various North Texas events (particularly JFK’s shooting, which plays a major role) and a lot of it rang true to me. The mother-daughter relationship is well-written as well.
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