From Publishers Weekly
Fourth in a popular series about a Southern widow with perfect manners and a taste for trouble, Ross's latest will bring a chorus of "Thank you, Lord"s from faithful readers. Newcomers may need a moment to figure out who's who in the cast-for instance, that Little Lloyd is the son of Julia's late husband, Wesley Lloyd Springer, and his "paramour," Hazel Marie, both of whom Julia has embraced as family. Ross's heroine may set a premium on appearances, like any traditional Southern lady, but what she really loves is problem solving and gracefully doing good. This time out, she finds herself championing her longtime housekeeper, Lillian. A greedy landowner is about to raze Lillian's home-in fact, the entire Willow Lane neighborhood, which houses low-income blacks. In order to save them, Julia gambles her own home and flouts her sense of propriety by donning Hazel Marie's leather pants and participating in a high-stakes motorcycle marathon and poker game, along with the Presbyterian minister's previously stodgy wife. And if that sounds improbable, factor in a spring whose water has an awesome effect on garden shrubbery and men's anatomy, furnishing oodles of delicious scandal. Series fans take note: Binkie and Coleman have a baby, and things look mighty promising between Julia and lawyer Sam Murdoch at the end of the book.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
The Miss Julia series is an audiophile's dream; the novels seem to have been created just for audio. Claudia Hughes's narration of this proper Southern lady's adventures is the next best thing to visiting small-town North Carolina. The fourth book of the series finds Miss Julia pulling out all the stops to aid housekeeper Lillian in saving her home from demolition. Hughes lends an authentic Southern air in vocalizing Lillian's despair and delights in her characterization of the less-than-gentlemanly Therlo Jones, who may hold the key to preserving her neighborhood. Even fans who have come to expect the protagonist to find herself in unlikely situations are in for a treat as Miss Julia plans a most unladylike fund-raising event. J.J.B. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Just a few months after the incidents described in Miss Julia Throws a Wedding [BKL My 15 02], the proper seventysomething widow is up to her neck again in other people's business. This time, housekeeper Lillian and her neighbors are about to lose their homes to a developer who wants to tear down the old houses and put up a water-bottling plant. Miss Julia won't have it, and she starts to look for ways to buy up the land herself. But there are other worries. Hazel Marie, who decamped with Little Lloyd to try a live-in arrangement with J. D. Pickens, has moved back to Miss Julia's after a few too many encounters with J. D.'s ex-wives. Unsavory old Lester Thurlow seems to have something more than fund-raising in mind. And what has come over Sam, who shows up one day wearing leather and riding a Harley? Despite Miss Julia's misgivings, Sam's motorcycle ends up being pivotal to the success of her schemes. Her many fans will lap it up. Mary Ellen Quinn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
Miss Julia—that Southern spitfire of a certain age who is never less than charming, even when she’s at her most opinionated—has been praised by Fannie Flagg as "one of the most delightful characters to come along in years." In Miss Julia Hits the Road, she is becoming increasingly concerned about her gentleman friend, Sam, who has suddenly started wearing cowboy boots, sending her flowers, and writing bad poetry. And when he shows up on a Harley-Davidson Road King and asks her to hop on, she’s convinced he’s lost his mind. Meanwhile, her invaluable housekeeper, Lillian, has been evicted from her home by her greedy landlord. Deciding that Lillian’s need is greater than her own fear (not to mention loss of dignity), Miss Julia takes Sam up on his offer and sets off on a motorcycle Poker Run to raise some fast cash. She’s ready to risk life and limb in Sam’s sidecar to save Lillian’s home from the bulldozer, but will Miss Julia’s scheme work?


About the Author
Ann B. Ross is the author of some of the most popular Southern novels in years, including Miss Julia Takes Over and Miss Julia Throws a Wedding.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Miss Julia—that Southern spitfire of a certain age who is never less than charming, even when she's at her most opinionated—has been praised by Fannie Flagg as ￯﾿ﾽone of the most delightful characters to come along in years.￯﾿ﾽ In Miss Julia Hits the Road, she is becoming increasingly concerned about her gentleman friend, Sam, who has suddenly started wearing cowboy boots, sending her flowers, and writing bad poetry. And when he shows up on a Harley-Davidson Road King and asks her to hop on, she's convinced he's lost his mind. Meanwhile, her invaluable housekeeper, Lillian, has been evicted from her home by her greedy landlord. Deciding that Lillian's need is greater than her own fear (not to mention loss of dignity), Miss Julia takes Sam up on his offer and sets off on a motorcycle Poker Run to raise some fast cash. She's ready to risk life and limb in Sam's sidecar to save Lillian's home from the bulldozer, but will Miss Julia's scheme work?

Author Biography: Ann B. Ross is the author of some of the most popular Southern novels in years, including Miss Julia Takes Over and Miss Julia Throws a Wedding.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Fourth in a popular series about a Southern widow with perfect manners and a taste for trouble, Ross's latest will bring a chorus of "Thank you, Lord"s from faithful readers. Newcomers may need a moment to figure out who's who in the cast-for instance, that Little Lloyd is the son of Julia's late husband, Wesley Lloyd Springer, and his "paramour," Hazel Marie, both of whom Julia has embraced as family. Ross's heroine may set a premium on appearances, like any traditional Southern lady, but what she really loves is problem solving and gracefully doing good. This time out, she finds herself championing her longtime housekeeper, Lillian. A greedy landowner is about to raze Lillian's home-in fact, the entire Willow Lane neighborhood, which houses low-income blacks. In order to save them, Julia gambles her own home and flouts her sense of propriety by donning Hazel Marie's leather pants and participating in a high-stakes motorcycle marathon and poker game, along with the Presbyterian minister's previously stodgy wife. And if that sounds improbable, factor in a spring whose water has an awesome effect on garden shrubbery and men's anatomy, furnishing oodles of delicious scandal. Series fans take note: Binkie and Coleman have a baby, and things look mighty promising between Julia and lawyer Sam Murdoch at the end of the book. (Mar. 31) Forecast: Miss Julia isn't the only one hitting the road. Ross will embark on a 10-city tour, which should help keep this series humming along-to date, there are more than 200,000 paperbacks of Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind in print. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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