I just don't have the words to describe how McDowell's words, combined with Godfrey's narration, made me feel. Surrounded by swampy lands and wrap around porches, the Caskey family takes in a stranger after a flood in 1919. The series included Jack and Susan in 1953 (1985), Jack and Susan in 1913 (1986) and Jack and Susan in 1933 (1987). There are many, many characters who come and go over the course of this intergenerational saga, as the original characters have children who grow up and have children of their own, all of whom are dragged into decades-long family squabbles and secrets, take on the psychological characteristics and burdens of their parents, while developing new ambitions and traits of their own, and making this a rich, deeply Southern soap opera full of powerful, domineering women and the men who more or less play supporting roles in their struggles.

Tell us why you liked or disliked the book; using examples and comparisons is a great way to do this. This is when Elinor Dammert appears — a mysterious young woman who just happens to be sitting in the upper floor of the flooded Osceola Hotel in downtown Perdido when Oscar Caskey and his loyal Negro employee Bray row by. And here's the weird bit: no matter how horrible the first event was, it actually made a lot of sense in the later incarnations. Over the next 50 years, Elinor's influence brings prosperity, animosity, death, and reconciliation to the Caskeys. McDowell had contracted to do one for each decade of the century, but he bowed out of the contract after three.There are ups and there are lows, but one thing is for sure, the women of the Caskey clan sure do take care of business.

The deaths were pretty sad, even Mary-Love's, even though she'd had it coming for a couple decades at that point. And finally, the mysterious saga of the Caskey family ends the only way it can—in terrible judgment and fury delivered under the cover of a relentless, earth-shattering Rain. On the surface, Elinor is gracious, charming, anxious to belong in Perdido, and eager to marry Oscar Caskey, the eldest son of Perdido’s first family. The Caskeys are rich, owning several wood mills on the river, but right from the beginning Elinor makes clear that her intention is to make them more rich — richer than any of them could ever imagine. The story centers on Eleanor Caskey, a woman who appeared mysteriously during a catastrophic flood in 1919 and died half a century later during the next flood to destroy Perdido.All the maneuverings reminded me of Game of Thrones, only played out in an Alabama river town over the course of three generations. Cobalt (1982): A leisurely summer getaway for Daniel and Clarisse is interrupted when the body of a handsome local playboy is discovered on the beach, and there's far too many people who wanted him dead.