Okatibbee Creek by Lori Crane (Goodreads author)
P.C. Zick's Review 5 of 5 stars
Read in April, 2014
This review comes from the audio version of Okatibbee Creek. From the very beginning, I was captivated by this story and its picturesque setting and its cast of characters making a life before, during, and after the years of the Civil War. The narrator of the audio tape, Margaret Lepera, provides just the right touch of a southern accent to make the narration of Mary Ann Rodgers' landscape and personality leap to life.
Lori Crane is an exceptional storyteller of the Deep South. The ingrained notion of slavery is accepted by the characters and the fight over it through such a high price is puzzling to the characters of Okatibbee Creek. They end up freeing their slaves anyway as a result of the destroyed economy of this part of Mississippi. The strong female, Mary Ann, keeps families together and carries on the tradition of her father and mother in the love shown to all human beings. A life examined is one worth living and Crane presents us with one exceptional life worth examining in the audio or book form of Okatibbee Creek.