When Wesley Lloyd Springer passed away, he left his proper Southern wife two legacies. The first, as befits a gentleman of means, is the whole of his sizeable estate. The second, so astonishing thereupon hangs this wonderful #38; witty tale. Miss Julia, recently bereaved #38; newly wealthy widow, is only slightly bemused when one Hazel Marie Puckett appears at her door with a youngster in tow. But this perfectly practiced composure is quickly reduced when Hazel Marie unceremoniously announces her intentions: the child is Wesley Lloyd's bastard son #38;, since the man left her penniless, she's leaving little Lloyd in Miss Julia's care. Suddenly, this longtime church member #38; pillar of her small community finds herself in the center of an unseemly scandal -- #38; the guardian of a wan nine-year-old whose mere presence will turn her life upside down. With razor wit #38; perfect Steel Magnolia poise, Miss Julia speaks her mind indeed -- about a robbery, a kidnapping, #38; all the other disgraceful goings-on that are precipitated by her husband's death. Fast-paced #38; charming, with a sure sense of comic drama #38; a cast of crazy characters, this beguiling novel will delight readers from first page to last. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Charming Southern eccentrics breathe life into a predictable story of a proper Presbyterian wife ("Miss Julia") who finds her true self after the sudden death of her husband of 44 years, wealthy but parsimonious banker Wesley Lloyd Springer. Julia is becoming accustomed to the role of rich widow when another shock intrudes: Hazel Marie Puckett appears on the front porch wearing "heels too high, a dress too short, and hair too yellow," with a nine-year-old boy in tow whose "eyes were so much like Wesley Lloyd's it was like looking at her husband before she ever met him." Hazel Marie is on her way to beauty school in Raleigh, N.C., since Wesley senior left no provision for her support, and Miss Julia realizes that she must take her husband's "last legacy" into her home. Meanwhile, her inheritance attracts a variety of small-town opportunists, beginning with Pastor Ledbetter, who insinuates that her departed husband planned to leave his money to the church, then enlists the aid of "Christian psychologist" Dr. Fred Fowler to prove Miss Julia's incompetence in a court of law. Ross's characters resist their stereotypical outlines--Miss Julia's black maid, Lillian, might talk like a character from Gone with the Wind, but she provides the strategy for retrieving Little Lloyd Jr. when he's abducted by Hazel Marie's shifty uncle, Brother Vern, a televangelist who also has designs on Miss Julia's money. Miss Julia's luck turns when, ransacking the pantry for Lillian's cache of Oreos, she comes across a Winn-Dixie sack secreted by Little Lloyd, which contains a new will and testament from the dead Lloyd Sr. Along with its homespun appeal, the novel offers an interesting take on gender, race and family in the South; it's fast-paced and funny despite Ross's persistent asides to readers and reference to serious issues (the church's stance on homosexuality and abortion). In the end, Miss Julia's prim self-absorption gives way and she begins to "feel like a real person, saying what she was thinking instead of packing it down inside." Agent, Peter Miller/Delin Cormeny. Author tour. (July) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

When Hazel Marie Puckett and her nine-year-old son, Little Lloyd, show up on Julia Springer's doorstep in Abbotsford, North Carolina, Miss Julia receives the shock of her long and proper life. After 44 years of marriage to pillar-of-church-and-community Wesley Lloyd Springer, she discovers that while she had assumed he was working late at the family bank, he was engaged in other, more carnal, pursuits. For, as Hazel Marie shyly explains, Little Lloyd is Miss Julia's late husband's son. His arrival in Miss Julia's life sets off a chain of events that involves a hypocritical minister, a violent beating, a crooked televangelist, a high-speed car chase, a kidnapping, and a surprising revelation about her late husband's will. Miss Julia not only speaks her mind but also comes to a deeper understanding of the meaning of love, friendship, and trust. First novelist Ross loses control of her material here and there, veering between farce and soap opera, but this is a light and entertaining story, eminently suitable for Jan Karon fans. (Reviewed June 1 & 15, 1999)0688167888Nancy Pearl From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.