The young heroine of Nora, Nora comes from a long line of angst-ridden adolescents, stretching back through Holden Caulfield and Frankie Addams to Huckleberry Finn. Yet Peyton McKenzie certainly has good reason to be unhappy. Her household, in the small Georgia town of Lytton, is shadowed by the deaths of her mother and older brother. Her father, meanwhile, has withdrawn into mournful distraction: "When Buddy died in an accident in his air-force trainer, when Peyton was five, Frazier McKenzie closed up shop on his laughter, anger, small foolishnesses, and large passions. Now, at twelve, Peyton could remember no other father than the cooled and static one she had."

To withstand this mortuary atmosphere--not to mention a touch of small-town claustrophobia--Peyton has founded the Losers Club, where she and two other misfits share their daily doses of unhappiness. But everything changes when her cousin Nora shows up for a visit. This jaunty outsider is unlike anybody else in Kennedy-era Lytton, circa 1961: The first thing you noticed about Nora Findlay, Peyton thought, was that she gave off heat, a kind of sheen, like a wild animal, except that hers was not a dangerous ferality, but an aura of sleekness and high spirits. There was a padding, hip-shot prowl to her walk, and she moved her body as if she were totally unconscious of it, as if its suppleness and sinew were something she had lived with all her life. At first Nora's high spirits have a tonic effect, jogging both Peyton and her father out of their torpor. But her involvement in racial politics eventually rubs some of Lytton's citizens the wrong way--and puts her young cousin's loyalty to the test. Anne Rivers Siddons handles the narrative with a deft touch for local color (right down to the perpetual "three Coca-Colas in an old red metal ice chest"). But her feeling for her cast of characters is even better, mixing just the right proportions of delicacy and Southern discomfort. --Anita Urquhart

From Publishers Weekly
Siddons pulls off another smoothly written novel with ingratiating ease, despite an unpromising beginning. Readers may fear they're in the realm of the hackneyed reflections of To Kill a Mockingbird and A Member of the Wedding when they're introduced to 12-year-old, "thin, frail, queer and nervous" Peyton McKenzie. In the seventh grade in Lytton, Ga., Peyton has "no friends of her own age and gender," and spends her free time in the parsonage tool shed with 34-year-old Ernie Longworth, eccentric, erudite sexton and grave keeper of the Methodist church. The third member of their Losers Club is eight-year-old Boot, the handicapped grandson of Chloe, the McKenzies' black housekeeper. Peyton considers herself the consummate "loser" because her mother died the day after she was born, and her cool, distant father seems to hold Peyton responsible. When a beautiful red-haired stranger blows into town in a Thunderbird coup?, this too seems tritely familiar. Outspoken Nora Findlay, a distant cousin who smokes, drinks and doesn't wear a bra, is clearly out to shock the morally conservative community. Though Siddons doesn't deliver any thematic surprises in this well-worn genre, she does offer a neatly competent and engrossing story that captures the reader's sympathies despite its quality of d?j? vu, as she conjures up the social and racial attitudes of a small Southern town in the 1960s. Nora enthralls an initially reluctant Peyton, working magic on the girl's appearance, self-confidence, intellectual curiosity and moral vision, even as she scandalizes everyone else in town. But daredevil Nora is secretly vulnerable, as Peyton learns when her cousin confesses the heavy emotional burden she carries. Eventually, both Nora and Peyton experience the anguish of betrayal. In addition to her impeccable re-creation of Southern speech and atmosphere, Siddons captures the angst of adolescence with practiced skill, and she handles the rising drama of her plot so smoothly that the book has all the marks of bestsellerdom. Agent, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh at the Writers Shop. 250,000 first printing; author tour. (July) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
When Peyton learns that her cousin Nora is coming to stay with her and her father for a time, Peyton resolves to find a way to avoid actually meeting this unwelcome stranger. But Nora, flamboyant and outspoken, has the entire town of Lytton, GA, in a flurry before she has a chance to park her pink convertible, and Peyton and her father find themselves suddenly living a life filled with more love, more fun, and more joy. Before long, though, everything Nora does seems to outrage the residents of this small, early 1960s town. An excessive abridgment at the beginning of this production leaves the listener wondering about Peyton's motives. The complete version [from HarperAudio and Recorded Books, among others] fills in the gaps, revealing that Peyton's fear of being unloved is only exceeded by her fear of growing up. Debra Monk's performance is unobtrusive and smooth, her gentle Southern accent adding atmosphere without being overpowering. This book is enjoying a great deal of popularity and is well worth acquiring; however, this reviewer would recommend one of the unabridged programs.DAdrienne Furness, Genesee Community Coll., Batavia, NY Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


"If you read just one classic "beach book" this summer, let it be Anne Rivers Siddons's Nora, Nora.

From AudioFile
Nora breezes into the sleepy Georgian town where her cousin Peyton and widowed uncle live. Nora's infectious energy stirs up everyone's lives for the better, but her secret past eventually comes back to haunt her. Debra Monk does a fine job of representing the staid citizens of Lytton, Georgia, while at the same time conveying Nora's vibrancy. In addition, Monk translates Peyton's initial wariness--and eventual acceptance--of her quirky cousin with real grace. The result is a humorous and poignant tale that Siddons's fans may consider her best yet. R.A.P. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


"Nora, Nora has all the marks of bestsellerdom"

FROM THE PUBLISHER

It is summer, 1961, and Lila Lee Bayliss, motherless since birth and now 13, doesn't quite know what to make of Nora Findlay. Nora smokes, swears, wears short shorts, and when she listens, she looks at you as if she's never heard a human voice before. She also laughs a lot, something that's been missing for a long time in the Bayliss household, and she seems to have done just about everything fun there is to do in the world. Soon, even Lila's somber father is humming while he shaves. When Nora takes a teaching job at the local high school, it seems like she might stay on in Lytton forever, despite her outlandish ways and the snide comments made about her by some of the neighbors. As time foes on, Lila begins to realize that underneath Nora's high-spirited, feisty façade, something is troubling her, something from her past. And though Nora has tried to run away from the life she had before, a secret follows her, on that is so shocking, it will stun the residents of this small, segregated town and forever change the life of young Lila. The mesmerizing story of an independent woman caught in a provincial place and time, Nora, Nora is destined to become Anne Rivers Siddons's biggest hit yet

FROM THE CRITICS

Barnes & Noble Guide to New Fiction

Set in the summer of 1961, this Siddons novel pairs a young teenager who lost her mother at birth with her "worldly wise" thirty-something aunt.

Journal Constitution Atlanta

A skillful storyteller...Siddons does what she does best and delivers kings-sized conflict in hypnotic surroundings.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

A skillful storyteller...Siddons does what she does best and delivers kings-sized conflict in hypnotic surroundings.

Library Journal

When Peyton learns that her cousin Nora is coming to stay with her and her father for a time, Peyton resolves to find a way to avoid actually meeting this unwelcome stranger. But Nora, flamboyant and outspoken, has the entire town of Lytton, GA, in a flurry before she has a chance to park her pink convertible, and Peyton and her father find themselves suddenly living a life filled with more love, more fun, and more joy. Before long, though, everything Nora does seems to outrage the residents of this small, early 1960s town. An excessive abridgment at the beginning of this production leaves the listener wondering about Peyton's motives. The complete version [from HarperAudio and Recorded Books, among others] fills in the gaps, revealing that Peyton's fear of being unloved is only exceeded by her fear of growing up. Debra Monk's performance is unobtrusive and smooth, her gentle Southern accent adding atmosphere without being overpowering. This book is enjoying a great deal of popularity and is well worth acquiring; however, this reviewer would recommend one of the unabridged programs.--Adrienne Furness, Genesee Community Coll., Batavia, NY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

AudioFile