Reading Between the Lines
‘Verbena’ gets five stars—as a mom, a woman, and a novel
by Mary Jo David
Nanci Kincaid does a superb job developing her characters in the novel “Verbena.” Photo credit: Amazon.com
The library is, and always has been, one of my favorite places to spend time. Yes, I have an e-reader, but I still enjoy popping into the library to see what’s on the shelves.
After making a beeline for a particular book or two I want to borrow from the library, I then spend time just browsing the shelves—looking at covers and reading the inside or back covers for more details. When I have enough books to check out, I take photos of other books so I always have a backlog of titles to start from when looking for my next good read.
Published in 2002, “Verbena,” by Nanci Kincaid, is one of those random books I found on the shelf last month. It’s true what they say, you can’t judge a book by its cover. I made that mistake with “Verbena.” The cover prompted me to think it was set in the 1950s. I was a good way through the story when a few references to answering machines and Cherry Garcia ice cream caused me to advance my thinking by maybe 40 years! However, making that leap did not dampen my enjoyment of this book.
What is it about Southern writers and stories that take place in the rural South that capture my attention? As a city girl, born and raised in the North, I think it’s a combination of the simpler life and the Southern characters—oh my yes, the characters—that appeals to me.
Verbena, “Bena” for short, is the mother of five children. Right off the bat, you learn Bena has been left to raise her children on her own. Although that actually happened five years prior to the start of the story, Kincaid weaves her prose such that the reader feels as though they have been with Bena since it happened.
A mom of five working full time as a teacher doesn’t have time to feel sorry for herself. Bills are piling up, unsavory aspects of her husband Bobby’s story keep being resurrected, and Bena’s still grieving. But through it all, she’s first and foremost a mom, imparting quiet wisdom and a subtle sense of humor to her children and others around her.
I’d give Bena five stars as a mom, even after a serious incident when she totally lost it with her children, who were a mix of tweens and teens at the time:
“I don’t know who is responsible for this. But if this is the best you know how to do, then I give up. I quit. … I hate you all.”
Strong words from a mom, and not words any mother would be proud of. Yet, this reader wouldn’t take any of Bena’s stars away. She bounces back, although not overnight, and eventually digs in and begins cleaning out husband Bobby’s things, old dishes, old furniture and more. All of this, of course, is a metaphor for Verbena finally getting her personal act together.
Kincaid does a superb job developing her characters, including all five of Bena’s children and a supporting cast that includes the mailman, Lucky McKale (Lucky has a dog named Tom); Lucky’s wife, Sue Cox (in true Southern style, “Cox” seems to be her middle name); and Bena’s fellow teacher and best friend, Mayfred Piper.
As her friendship with Lucky grows, he has to explain himself out of a hole with Bena:
“Damn, Bena, I’m a mailman. If you’re a mailman you know the lives of everybody on your route. … A mailman is like being a policeman or a psychiatrist. You start to know a family’s story. I mean it’s like doing involuntary surveillance or something. I’m just doing my job. But I don’t do it with my eyes closed.”
Meanwhile, a more predictable author would have the reader despising Sue Cox, or at least strongly disliking her, but Kincaid’s masterful writing takes the reader beyond this character’s human failings to illuminate some of her good qualities as well.
The pace of the story keeps the reader moving along. The book is almost 350 pages, but it’s a fast read. Although it’s been years since I’ve read a Pat Conroy novel, I found myself drawing parallels between his stories and this novel.
In some places, the story is laugh-out-loud funny, and in other places, you’ll be reaching for a tissue. But throughout all of “Verbena,” Kincaid peppers the story with great Southern dialect and imagery.
Mary Jo David is a retired business and technical writer who contributes occasional book reviews to Stockbridge Community News. She and her husband reside in Gregory.
