Friday, March 12, 2021

Looking For Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore


I thoroughly enjoyed reading of Looking For Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg GilmoreLooking For Salvation at the Dairy Queen is the first novel I've read by Susan Gregg Gilmore and I look forward to exploring her other published works... Looking For Salvation at the Dairy Queen also happens to be the first novel written by the author and what an amazing first novel it is! The title of this novel is what captured my attention initially, but the writing, storyline, plot development and characters are what kept me reading until the very end.

Looking For Salvation at the Dairy Queen is set in Ringgold, Georgia during the 1970s and is essentially a coming of age story. I loved the protagonist, Catherine Grace Cline, and her journey through childhood to adulthood. Catherine Grace and her sister, Martha Ann, grow up without a mother and are raised by their preacher father. It was fun to read about Catherine Grace's trials, tribulations, and see her perspective change as she grows older. Some unexpected events happen along the way, which make for a fun read. 

As a side note, I can't ever recall eating at a Dairy Queen before, but now I want to try a Dilly Bar after reading Looking For Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore!!

The following is summary for Looking For Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore from Amazon:
Sometimes you have to return to the place where you began, to arrive at the place where you belong.

It’s the early 1970s. The town of Ringgold, Georgia, has a population of 1,923, one traffic light, one Dairy Queen, and one Catherine Grace Cline. The daughter of Ringgold’s third-generation Baptist preacher, Catherine Grace is quick-witted, more than a little stubborn, and dying to escape her small-town life.

Every Saturday afternoon, she sits at the Dairy Queen, eating Dilly Bars and plotting her getaway to Atlanta. And when, with the help of a family friend, the dream becomes a reality, she immediately packs her bags, leaving her family and the boy she loves to claim the life she’s always imagined. But before things have even begun to get off the ground in Atlanta, tragedy brings Catherine Grace back home. As a series of extraordinary events alter her perspective--and sweeping changes come to Ringgold itself--Catherine Grace begins to wonder if her place in the world may actually be, against all odds, right where she began.

Intelligent, charming, and utterly readable, Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen marks the debut of a talented new literary voice.
Below is a short video on YouTube of author, Susan Gregg Gilmore, discussing how she became a writer. What an amazing, short blurb on the fact that you can become a writer at any age and without having been an English major in college.



 I am giving Looking For Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore a rating of 5 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!

12 comments:

  1. New to me book and I found the review so interesting. thank you.

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    1. Thank you for stopping by and leaving me a comment!

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  2. Nice! I grew up with Dairy Queens everywhere. They also have good fries!

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  3. What an intriguing title. I might read it for that alone.

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  4. Oh man, we still have a few Dairy Queens left here but I have a feeling that I'll be visiting them often if I read this book. The book sounds like fun though!

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  5. Sounds like a great read! I love a good coming-of-age story. :)

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    1. This coming of age novel is a good! Happy reading!!

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  6. You've never been to DQ? The food (burgers, fries, etc.) is expensive and not great, but the ice cream is delish! And now I really want a Blizzard...

    This novel sounds like a good one. I'd never heard of it before, so thanks for the heads-up!

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    1. Nope, I've never eaten at a Dairy Queen before. Mainly because we've never lived close to one before until recently.

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