Family Linen

By: Lee Smith

Narrated by: Linda Stephens

Lee Smith is one of today's most critically acclaimed authors writing about contemporary life in the South. In Family Linen, with a remarkable economy of description and dialogue, Smith sketches eccentric, yet familiar characters moving through a family drama that resonates with both tension and humor.

Sybil Hess, a polished, Southern apartment manager has visited a hypnotist in a desperate attempt to discover the source of her blinding headaches. But in one session, a mysterious, Gothic childhood memory plays before her eyes. Now Sybil is racing against time to find an answer to one urgent question. Is her quiet, genteel mother a murderer? Stretching between Sybil and the truth is a loony tangle of sibling rivalry, family lore, and jealousy.

Lee Smith's darkly comic, richly textured novel will enchant you. It is a tale told by many voices: Southern dowagers and whiskey-tippling uncles, polyester-clad housewives, and MTV-eyed teenagers. Narrator Linda Stephens' performance draws you into the company of this truly unforgettable family.

©1985 Lee Smith (P)2004 Recorded Books

Dirty laundry

Every single family in the world has dirty laundry, some are just better at hiding it. Eventually the skeletons in the closet, or the well, are found. I love Smith’s character driven writing style. I feel like I know these people or could be these people, in a given situation.