11/25/01 Dear Bobby, The novel Cold Sassy Tree was written by Olive Ann Burns. Cold Sassy Tree is a story set in Cold Sassy, Georgia about the conflict between Mr. Blakeslee and his wife with his family and the town of Cold Sassy. They are all upset because Mr. Blakeslee marries Miss Love Simpson, who is the nearly the same age as his daughters just three weeks after the death of Miss Matie Lou, his old wife. My favorite character is Mr. Blakeslee (grandpa). He is an old guy with thick dark hair and a long grey beard. His left arm is cut off just below the elbow. I like him because he is a simple old man and doesn't worry about much. He says, "A car is a fool dangerous contraption. Worse'n a bicycle." He is also tough and many people are somewhat scared to challenge him. When Mary Willis was talking to Loma about getting Hoyt to try to change grandpa's mind she said "Hoyt don't even dare to ast Pa to raise his pay. Get your Camp onto him." He is my favorite character although many people in the family and town think it is wrong for him to marry Miss Simpson but I think he does it for a good reason. I like grandpa and the way he thinks. I think I think like he does sort of and I like things simple like him. I think that the story has a very complex, hard to explain theme. It really depends on how you look at it and I think it shows different themes and morals throughout the story. I think that the main theme is that love can be very complicated and not easy to deal with. That is the message that I got from the story whether the author tried to convey it or not. Overall I thought this was a pretty good book. I have read better books but it was pretty interesting. It was long but the length of a book does not bother me if I can get into it and I could get into this one. I think that most people who read this book should like it not just a select few and I think most anyone would benefit from reading it. I would probably recommend reading this book to my peers. Your Friend, C.J. Smith
