August Meeting in September

The August Page Turner meeting was postponed until September by my request.  I did not have the book finished.  I wanted to complete it because I LOVED IT.  I rated this book a 5.  The Old Lady rolled her eyes about my rating.  She gave it a 4.  I may have mentioned this before, the Old Lady cannot give a book a 5 rating unless it ends with a big BANG!! Sometimes stories just end.  All the loose ends are not always tied in pretty bows.  Like real life there are times we go from drama to drama without a pretty ending. 
I had no idea what this story was about.  Did not read a description before I started the book.  Not sure what I expected but this story was not it.  This was a debut novel for the author, Anna Jean Mayhew.  A few of the really good novels we read have been debut novels.  Could be difficult for the authors to top!  This is the story of Southern life in the throes of segregation.  It is from the point of view of thirteen year old, Jubie Watts.  It is compared to The Help.  It is nothing like The Help except that the story is about racial issues. 
It is August, 1954.  Jubie's family is leaving on a trip to Florida from North Carolina.  It is Jubie, her mother, her three siblings and their maid, Mary.  Mary is not just a maid to Jubie.  She is the main caregiver.  She is the one person that Jubie has been able to count on her compassion.  Jubie's parents are not loving.  Her father beats Jubie to the point of leaving bruises on her.  Her mother was a typical woman of that time period.  Submissive to her husband.  She stayed with him while he beat her child, had an affair with her brother's wife, but kept her in a style of living she had grown to expect.
I wish I had not changed the date of our meeting.  It was a great book to discuss.  Would have been good to have everyone there.  We were missing two members.  We had a good discussion about how Jubie's mother should have acted.  What racial relations were like in the 50's.  The treatment of the families maid, Mary. 
This book is a great read.  I do not want to give too much of the story away.  I was glad to read a really good story.  It had been quite a while.
Our September books is, Conversations and Cosmopolitans by Robert and Jane Rave.  They are from Bloomington, IL.  I have already finished it.  It was a good read.  Could not put it down!
I am joining a second book club.  I do not think it has a name.  Tru Stories is starting it through her yoga studio.  The first books is called, Yoga Bitch by Suzanne Morrison.  I am not 100% behind this book club yet.  Do not think I am ready to start back to yoga.  Think I have too much weight on my body to attempt yoga.  I will at least read the book.