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Henry Wyath Gurley : Miss Hettie's Green Couch

Headlight Press, Statesboro, Georgia, 2009

ISBN 1585351881

8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. AZ3 - A hardcover book SIGNED and inscribed by Henry Wyath Gurley to previous owner on the title page in very good condition that has some bumped corners, some scattered scratches, rubbing and scuffing on the cover, light discoloration and shelf wear with no dust jacket. 9"x6", 319 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Miss Hettie Elizabeth Forsythe-Forsythe becomes a full-time resident of the Heritage Club Assisted Living Center in January 2007. She dutifully keeps a journal of her daily life, recording the minutiae of her activities and insights into her earlier life. However, parts of her journal are fantasy, fiction and reality combined into a sometimes-implausible saga of her very stressful earlier days. In real life she is Miss Harriett Forsythe Ettie (or is she?) as she revisits her life through six sessions with a psychiatrist (imaginary or real?). A veritable cast of believable characters crosses her path as she seeks to exorcise herself of certain demons from her younger days. An event that occurred in 1943 in Guadalajara, Mexico haunts her every thought; and a deathbed confession from her "second" mother in 1958 assaults her psyche with its impact. She shares neither of these situations with anyone, not even her best friends, Miss Melange and Miss Muriel (who are residents at the Center as well as childhood friends). Involved in her daily life for a mere two-year period, the reader is tossed about in three worlds: fantasy, fiction and reality. Just as one thinks he has Miss Harriett Forsythe Ettie fully defined, she, as the chief protagonist of the novel, proves elusive and incapable of definition. The same is true for her surrounding characters: Stallwart Stallworth, Big Venetia Stallworth, her psychiatrist Dr. Sylvan G. Garber, Miss Viola Jenkins, Little Beau, Magnum Stokes Forsythe and even a beloved imaginary dog, Malfeasance. Even her dearest friends with whom she makes peace in her later years (Miss Melange and Miss Muriel) are at times flummoxed by the boundaries and limits of her friendship. This is a heart-warming, poignant and sometimes humorous novel that delves into the minds of the elderly as they face their last days in an assisted living facility. In one sense, it could be labeled a morality tale touching all of us with its inevitability.. Book Condition: Very Good. Binding: Hardcover. Jacket: No Jacket

Signed by Author

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