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Audible sample Sample
Miss Julia Hits the Road Audio Cassette – Unabridged, April 1, 2003
Miss Julia -- that proper lady of a certain age with a backbone of iron and perfect Steel Magnolia poise, not to mention the sharpest tongue south of the Mason-Dixon Line –- always likes to nip any little problems in the bud. Not this time. Miss Julia is increasingly concerned about her gentleman friend, Sam, who has suddenly started wearing cowboy boots, sending flowers, and writing bad poetry. When he shows up on a Harley-Davidson one day, shes convinced he's lost his mind –- or is at the very least wrestling with a particularly intense midlife crisis.
Meanwhile, Miss Julia's invaluable housekeeper, Lillian, and all her neighbors have been evicted from their homes by their greedy landlord, who has bigger plans for the property. So off Miss Julia rides (in the sidecar, naturally) –- wearing a Leslie Fay shirtwaist and a black-visored helmet –- risking life and limb on a poker run, a motorcycle fund-raiser to save Lillian and her friends' homes. Hitting a few bumps on the way, Miss Julia still manages to maintain the impeccable manners and irresistible charm that keep her listeners coming back again and again.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarperAudio
- Publication dateApril 1, 2003
- Dimensions4.25 x 2.75 x 6.25 inches
- ISBN-100060532254
- ISBN-13978-0060532253
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Product details
- Publisher : HarperAudio; Unabridged edition (April 1, 2003)
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 0060532254
- ISBN-13 : 978-0060532253
- Item Weight : 9.9 ounces
- Dimensions : 4.25 x 2.75 x 6.25 inches
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Ann is the mother of two daughters and one son, and the grandmother of four grandsons (including twin boys) and two granddaughters, both of whom are her namesakes. When her children were in college, she decided to complete her own education, enrolling in the University of North Carolina at Asheville where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Literature. Reluctant to return to an empty nest, she continued her education by enrolling in the English Department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned both the Master's and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Afterwards, she taught Literature and the Humanities at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
Ann's writing career began in the early eighties when two mysteries were published as original paperbacks: THE MURDER CURE and THE MURDER STROKE. A few years later, her first hardcover book was published: THE PILGRIMAGE, an adventure story set in the nineteenth century. All three books are now out of print, but occasionally a used copy of THE PILGRIMAGE appears on Amazon.com for sale.
The publication of the first Miss Julia book, MISS JULIA SPEAKS HER MIND in 1999, set Ann on a full-time writing career. This book went through six reprintings in less than a year, and was ranked #9 on the Independent Booksellers' seventy-six most highly recommended books for 1999. In addition, the book was named to the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers list. The paperback edition of the same book was listed in The Best Books of the First Five Years by BookSense, as one of the titles independent booksellers most enjoyed handselling. The book was also published by Readers Digest Condensed Books, appearing in twelve foreign languages.
MISS JULIA TAKES OVER was one of seven nominees for the Book of the Year Award (2001) by the Southeastern Booksellers Association.
All of the books in the series are available on audiotape and in large-print editions, and are also available through The Literary Guild/Doubleday Book Club. All of the books, except the newest one each year, can be found in paperback editions.
MISS JULIA THROWS A WEDDING, MISS JULIA HITS THE ROAD, MISS JULIA MEETS HER MATCH, and MISS JULIA'S SCHOOL OF BEAUTY have all appeared on the New York Times Extended Bestseller List.
All of the books in the series will be published in German, Japanese, and Croatian editions, as well as on audiotape (in English) and in large print editions.
Inspiration for the escapades of Ann's much-loved character, Miss Julia, comes in all manner of ways -- a chance remark by a friend or family member, an incident she happens to see, in a dream, or by being reminded of something in her past experiences. It is always deeply satisfying to her when scenes in the book she is working on suddenly seem to fit together to make a good story. She does not outline or make detailed plans before starting a story. She does, however, have a general plot in mind before beginning to write, but this usually entails only the conflict and the final resolution, with few ideas of how they will be worked out. So, with just the beginning and the end of a book decided on, Ann relies on the characters themselves to fill in the middle with first one subplot after another. This, she says, is the joy of writing -- when a character suddenly does or says something unexpectedly, leading her to funny and surprising 'mini-scenes' that seem to delight readers.
Ann was once asked by an interviewer how she knew when something she'd written was good. She replied, "I know it's good when I fall off my chair laughing." From that response, we can be sure that she enjoys writing about her characters as much as we enjoy reading about them.
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In this book, Miss Julia is worried about Sam Murdoch, her long-time friend and sort-of boyfriend when he starts sending her flowers and poetry and buys a motorcycle. Hazel Marie Puckett, former love-interest of Miss Julia’s late husband has moved in with her new boyfriend, J.D. Pickett, a private eye Miss Julia hired on a previous adventure, taking her son, Little Lloyd, with her. A bombshell is dropped into Miss Julia’s life when her cook, Lillian, reports that she and her neighbors are being evicted from the houses where they have lived all their lives. Miss Julia of course says Lillian can come and live with her. But what about the other people on her street?
A meeting with the people on the street provides temporary housing solutions for them, but it is agreed that some sort of fund-raising operation is in order. Meanwhile, Miss Julia goes to meet with Clarence Gibbs, the evil landlord to see if she can buy him out and stop the eviction. He won’t even agree to wait for the fund-raising to begin, and he sets such a high price on the property that even Miss Julia can’t meet his price by herself. He does, however, agree to give the fund-raisers a couple of weeks, provided Miss Julia offers her own house as well if they can’t meet his price in that time.
Miss Julia is now highly motivated to raise the funds.
There are myriad fund-raising ideas, but the one that turns out to be most lucrative is something called a Poker Run. This involves getting a group of motorcyclists to line up sponsors (like charity marathons and 10K runs) and then ride around to different places drawing a card at each one. The winner is the one with the best hand at the end. There’s more, but you get the idea.
While Sam is calling the town’s movers and shakers for traditional donations and Little Lloyd and his scout troop are planning car washes and raking leaves, Miss Julia visits some people to get donations too. She goes to see a certain Mr. Thurlow Jones, a man with more money than sense apparently, who suddenly develops an unsettling interest in Miss Julia. When she mentions the Poker Run as part of the fund-raising activities, he offers to donate a hundred thousand dollars if she rides in the run. He further offers to kick in an extra ten thousand for every woman over fifty she can get to sign up too. Though Miss Julia didn’t want any part of any motorcycle ride, she agreed to do it for so much of the needed funds.
There is another exciting mini-adventure when Miss Julia, Lillian, and Little Lloyd make a late-night trip to check out the famous spring that seems to be the source of Clarence Gibbs’ interest in the property. And then, there’s the whole Poker Run thing itself – which unexpectedly turns out to be a little dangerous.
Although she is a fussy old lady, I think she’s adorable and reading these stories just make me so happy.
I highly recommend this wonderful book.