The Daughter-in-Law

The Daughter-in-Law - by Larry D. Harwood

Every month, I receive many stories that are written in a down-homey Southern drawl. You know what I mean? Saccarine-sweet Southern charm just dripping off the page, interspersed with folksy wisdom and real knee-slapping anecdotes. The dialogue, and sometimes the narrative, is written in some Hollywoodish version of southern dialect. Many times the tale is based on a true story, or the characters are based on real people that the author grew up with. In other words, a story written to the accompaniment of a Blue Bell Ice Cream commercial. Which has, to my knowledge, never made up for the fact that the story isn't Southern Gothic and doesn't fit the Southern Gothic genre.

This story is not one of those stories. You'll find here the down-homey drawl and Southern charm, but there's more to it than that. The story unfolds in a variety of ways - narrative, dialogue, and epistle. But most importantly, the characters aren't just charming eccentrics - they have flaws and desires and fears that bring them to life as you read the story. Therein lies the difference between this story, and the story that begins with remembrances of granny's rocking chair and the sweetest iced tea you ever sucked down on a hot summer day, with momma hollering through the screen, "Would you kids like some homemade ice cream?"