Lee Smith’s Blue Marlin will make you smile. Jenny, the 13-year old narrator, takes us on a journey, both literal and emotional. She is not the first child to feel responsible for her parents’ marital problems and equally hopeful she can bring about their reconciliation. The precocious aspiring writer, however, does have a unique point of view and an insatiable curiosity.

“I had to see as much as I could see, learn as much as I could learn, feel as much as I could feel. I had to live like crazy all the time, an attitude that would get me into lots of trouble,” she tells us. And, oh, how you will enjoy reading about her many “adventures”.

Set in 1958, Blue Marlin will trigger feelings of nostalgia as the author weaves in details that anyone who grew up in the 50’s will particularly enjoy. Jenny’s and her mother’s fascination with movie stars of the era will evoke memories of what now feel like simpler times.

And as a bonus for writers, Lee Smith provides us a gift in her epilogue entitled “The Geographical Cure”. She describes Blue Marlin as a work of “autobiographical fiction”. This short piece beautifully captures the way authors take their real-life experiences and weave them into a story. As she says, “I have always felt that I can tell the truth better in fiction than non-fiction.” Thank you, Lee Smith.