Fannie Flagg (quirky, funny, compassionate, is able to put you into a scene so completely that you forget you are reading a novel).
Ann B. Ross (her Miss Julia series about and older, Southern woman was so perfect in the way in which all of the ensemble characters are fleshed out that I can see them and hear them and want to sit down and talk with them. Very un-expected, very wry humor, great adventurous, yet down to earth story). Note: I was so enthralled with this series, that I actually had visions of movie actors who I knew were perfect for the characters, so I wrote to Ms. Ross and she actually wrote back to me! She was very nice and loved my idea, but said that there were no immediate plans that she knew of to make her books into movies. I think they would be splendid.
Gail Fraser (her Lumby series has created a wonderful set of characters that are both unique, but seem very familiar, as in I know these people! Her story is set in an idyllic scene, but there are silly situations, Wow! situations and hmmmm that sounds like a great idea situations). You will want to move to Lumby after reading her books.
Rosamunde Pilcher Her books are filled with rich dialogue, vivid 3 dimensional characters and she’s able to transport you to small villages and towns in England and Scotland and France in the blink of an eye. She is able to portray romance and longing in a way that is not sappy, just heartwarming and heartbreaking exactly how it needs to be. Her stories are usually very epic in scale, scanning time zones national boundaries.
Amy Tan (she is able to create scenes that are so vividly realistic that I have often forgotten where I am. She can take a story about an exotic place, with people that should be stranger to me, and make me know them in a way in which I think I must have dreamed of this myself. Sights and sounds and smells are rendered in such a way that you are there experiencing them for yourself)
Nancy Thayer is probably the most versatile and prolific of all of my favorite female authors. Her Hot Flash Club series dragged me in like a best friend saying, “Hey come on over, we’ll have dinner and go on an adventure!.” Don’t be fooled by the silly title. This series is about a group of independent, interesting women of a certain age who come together by fate, then end up being each other’s anchors in a the stormy sea called “Life as an older female.” But then I discovered some of Ms. Thayer’s other books and I was blown away by the contrast in how they were written. It’s almost as if An Act of Love or The Summer House were written by completely different authors. The Hot Flash series is yummy and cozy and sometimes bittersweet, but very comforting. An Act of Love blew me away with the horrific subject matter and all of the painful situations and perceptions that follow in the aftermath. The Summer House was like a really well made Made for TV romance, coming of age tale. But if I had not known the author’s name, I would have sworn that they were all very different authors.
Sandra Dallas (her books are American period pieces that feature strong women who are still in the learning process. Dialogue is spot on and there is always a mystery and a theme of quilting or sewing or stitching involved. I ate up The Persian Pickle Club and Alice’s Tulips like a big bowl of warm soup.
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