Fannie Flagg outdoes herself with ‘I Stil Dream About You’

No one writes Southern fiction better than Fannie Flagg.

Known for her best-selling, book-turned-movie “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe,” and “Welcome to the World, Baby Girl,” Flagg always manages to capture the essence of the South through her descriptive writing and her often outrageous characters.

Her latest book, “I Still Dream About You,” is no exception. This novel is kudzu-covered, peach and magnolia scented and 100 percent Southern through and through.

Maggie Fortenberry is a former beauty queen (and not just any beauty queen, but Miss Alabama) and a great real estate agent. However, now in her 60s, her life has not turned out at all like she imagined it would, and as she evaluates her life she comes to the conclusion that the solution to all her problems is to end it — for good.

Maggie is very matter-of-fact about her decision and sets out to complete her plans in an orderly manner. But like they say, the best laid plans often go awry, and things keep popping up that distract Maggie from her gloomy demise. Pretty soon, she discovers that maybe she has a few things to live for after all.

The story also includes a nice mix of secondary characters, such as Hazel Whisenknott, the deceased diminutive owner of the real estate company for which Maggie works. Hazel, who was charismatic, engaging and kind, sealed every deal with her trademark statement, "Close enough!"  Even though Hazel has already passed away by the beginning of the book, we see enough of her through flashbacks to make her all the more memorable.

Flagg adds in a secondary storyline in which Maggie researches the mystery surrounding the original owners of the oldest and nicest house in town after she discovers a skeleton in the closet — literally, well, literally a skeleton, but not in a closet.

Readers who have been to Flagg’s hometown of Birmingham will be delighted to find familiar neighborhoods and local attractions in the story, including Red Mountain, the Vulcan statute that overlooks the city, the gorgeous Mountain Brook area of town, and the fascinating downtown area where the sidewalks still shimmer if you look just right.

With "I Still Dream About You," Fannie Flagg has outdone herself as her gift of storytelling shines.