Friday, June 3, 2011

Book Review: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond


This is an absolutely precious book, and it is only made all the more spine-tinglingly wonderful by the fact that it is a memoir and not fiction. It is the stuff of fairy tales (albeit with a decent hunk of trauma and misfortune the likes of which not often featured by Disney); in many ways it is the perfect love story. The fact that the author and her husband are still very much together and in love many years, four children and surely several more traumas later makes the whole thing even better. If there’s one way to describe this book it’s as a great big dab of hope for all the romantically cynical.

At several points Drummond sarcastically jokes that it must have been her eloquence (p. 21 “You know, stuff, and Me, too, all in the same conversation. This guy was sure to be floored by my eloquence.”) that had her Wrangler clad cowboy so smitten and, it has to be said, her writing style does seem to lack a certain eloquence in places. It is written very much in the kind of colloquial conversational style that Drummond blogs in, and though it works very well in the short intimate posts of a blog there are times when it is somewhat less endearing in a full length memoir.  On the other hand, this style does rather mirror her own adorable tongue twistedness in the early stages of her Western romance and as the relationship becomes more established and settles down a little, so too does the writing style.

It certainly doesn’t stop her from making the characters feel ever so real and loveable, to the extent that the reader feels totally invested in the course of their lives. From the get-go we find ourselves rooting for the oh-so-gentlemanly Malboro man versus the distant Californian surfer J and we cringe wholeheartedly along with Ree as she falls over her own feet on her first date. Not to mention the sympathy we feel when she attempts to pick out suitable attire from her L.A. wardrobe for an early morning ranch work party at which she will meet her beau’s parents for the first time. The horror that grips us when she promptly manages to drive her car- containing both herself and her future mother-in-law- into a ditch is all consuming. And please let’s not mention the sweating in the guest bathroom incident….. I’m still recovering from the embarrassment so goodness only knows how Drummond herself found the strength to continue with life without changing her identity and moving to the North Pole!

The whole book is wonderfully charming, from the sweetly family-friendly way she dances around describing the more intimate aspects of her relationship to the way she manages to make making-out in the back of a pickup sound ever so classy and sophisticated! The fact that her crazy, instinctive decision to cancel her planned move to Chicago solely due to a weeks old relationship with a cowboy (normally the kind of decision that, however right, really only makes sense to the person in question) clearly demonstrates the impressive way that Drummond builds up a relationship between herself and the reader.

This might not be the most highbrow read (nor, indeed, is it meant to be) but it is a fun, sweet, loving and most satisfying story. It is the perfect book to read in a quiet, sleepy house before anyone but the dog has woken up…. whilst eating leftover chocolate mousse birthday cake for breakfast. I can personally attest to this. 

2 comments:

  1. I agree - I loved this one too. Definitely pick up the audio if you do audiobooks, as she narrates it herself. Very awesome.

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  2. I am so tempted to do so, would be great for the transatlantic flight I have coming up. Will let you know :)

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