Waking Up in Dixie

A Novel

By: Haywood Smith

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

When Elizabeth Mooney escaped the shame of her "white trash" family to marry the crown prince of her small town, Howell Whittington, she never dreamed that 30 years later she'd end up trapped in a loveless marriage to the cruel banker who's foreclosing on all her friends.

Then Howe has a stroke while sitting up in church, and when he wakes up, he's at the mercy of all his appetites and emotions. Transformed, Howe wants to be a real husband - which scares proper, repressed Elizabeth to death - and setting out to right past wrongs, he blackmails the town's baddies into doing the right thing by threatening to foreclose on their mortgages. The ensuing hilarious rollercoaster ride wakes up not only Elizabeth and their marriage but the whole town and its hidebound institutions.

©2010 Haywood Smith (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Smith shakes up the midlife marriage renewal subgenre with the emotionally complex tale of Elizabeth Whittington." ( Publishers Weekly)

A truly fun listen

I love this book. It treats its story with turns of mirth and amusement. I re-listen often. During the shutdown it’s tough to find upbeat material. This does the trick. Haywood Smith always makes me feel like I get to go on an adventure.

Found Another Southern Jewel!!!

Funny, nostalgic, excellent message, and SOUTHERN!!! What can beat that? This is my first Haywood Smith novel, but you can be sure I'll be looking for more . . . I love the honest way she just "puts it out there" . . . she's spot on with her descriptions of high school cliques, rich southern society, and the shame of growing up "on the other side of the tracks". I know quite a few "stiff, high society" folks that I'd like to slip this audio book to . . . it'd do them a world of good to have a bump on the head and wake up like Howell did :)

Delightfully Dixie

Haywood Smith writes books that are just begging to be narrated. I am so glad she is on Audible.

Good story

Enjoy all of her books. The beauty of this book, however, is that I feel a more serious topic is covered and I really felt connected to the main female character. Actually, I was a little more connected than I'd like to be. I felt that this book was very close to my life, so maybe that was a factor in me rating it as I did. Even if you don't identify totally with her, the book itself is still a good read.

A Southern Story

I know southerners talk with the thick brogue, and it was like being right in the middle of a real family! Good book!