Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Krysten Weller

Spitting Image
By Shutta Crum
Review by Krysten Weller

Jessie is a young girl growing up in Beulah County, Kentucky during the “War on Poverty.” The town is going through an economic drought after the closing of a coalmine and many of the town’s men are out of work. A couple of photographers come in to survey the situation to showcase the less fortunate families during their plight. During this time Jessie watches her best friend Robert, a picked on youth whose family has fallen on hard times, deal with his alcoholic father.

But Jessie also wonders about the identity of her father. Her mother has said for years that she would tell her who her father was when Jessie was older. Well, the time has come and Jessie finds that she’s still not getting any answers. So she decides to take matters into her own hands and writes a young doctor who was a friend of her mother’s. The doctor comes to town after receiving the letter to let Jessie know he isn’t her father, although he cares about her very much.

As the story progresses you learn that the doctor’s friendship with her mother was not well received by many prejudiced people in the town. In fact, their friendship was the reason Jessie’s mother’s house was burned down while she was pregnant with Jessie. In the end, Jessie does find out who her father is, but she finds that knowing his name isn’t as important as the family that she already has.

Shutta Crum does an excellent job of taking you into Kentucky during the “War on Poverty.” The dialects and situations appear quite authentic and almost painfully realistic. Crum deals with difficult topics such as racism and rape very delicately, yet real.

The book is informative and builds up to a suspenseful conclusion when the father’s name is finally released. Although Jessie may not get the father she desired, she does get the family she needs. The grandmother character is a very interesting character as you learn about her many past marriages and how she ends up with a car after each divorce. Although Jessie and her grandmother don’t see eye to eye, they find that they do have a deeper understanding of one another after going through a traumatic event. This is well written novel that tackles serious subjects in a introspective and thought provoking manner.