Mary Bliss is the proper Southern woman. She does her job, even makes homemade food to
take to her nursing home bound mother-in-law whom she realizes can’t stand her.
She does everything correctly because that is how she was raised. Then the bottom drops out of her life. Her
husband abandons her, taking everything except their daughter. Faced with losing the house, unable to pay
her daughter’s tuition and wondering where her next meal would come from, she
does what any woman would do. She got a
job.
Mary Bliss working in the store handing out samples proved
just how far she had fallen. No society
woman in Atlanta would take such a job.
I laughed that she showed up in heels and thought she would make $22.00
per hour handing out samples. This only
adds to her naiveté and makes her more endearing. Still she is a principled person and does not
let the job get her down. She will be
the best at whatever she determines. One
line in the book sums it all up —Nobody lets
that girl do anything! She will do what she puts her mind to.
Katherine is another story. She too sets out to get her way
any way she can. When her husband leaves her for another woman she sets out for
revenge. In the meantime she remains a true friend to Mary Bliss. She helps her
figure out finances, plan a death and stands by her the entire time. She connives
to regain her own husband—successfully, I must say.
Erin is the abandoned daughter. Her story is far too common
these days. Taken advantage of by a
coach, abandoned by her father and then by the coach, blaming her mother for
all that is wrong in her life. While her
behavior is not ideal, it is understandable.
Synopsis of other characters: Or just an assessment of them!
Matt-good guy who saw something he wanted and found a way to
make it happen. Good man, promising that
the future will be brighter for both Mary Bliss and Erin even though they may
not realize it now.
Charlie-even though he did leave Katherine for a younger
woman, he did come back. He was willing to overlook the faked death and help
Mary Bliss get everything in order by book’s end.
Parker—horse’s ass. Couldn’t take his own life so decided to
ruin everyone else’s. Was he in a
relationship with Russell? My guess is
yes given the fact that he was living in the Keys and everything was in his
name—just my two cents worth.
Randy—good guy who lets others take advantage. He has twice gone back to his less than
faithful wife. Did she really make that
much more money than him that is was better to stay with her cheating self than
to go out on his own and raise his kids in a good, stable home? He was a good
neighbor, was trying to raise his sons correctly and deserves better than
Nancye who slept with everyone.
Eula/Meemaw—reminds me of my Granny without the two million.
Ornery as the day is long, strong as an ox and stubborn. Still when it came down to it she realized
that Mary Bliss was the rock in the family and her son was not the sunshine in
the sky every morning.
Mary Bliss is a strong woman or as is the southern was a
GRITS girl. She stood up for herself,
did what she wanted even in the face of public ridicule in the community and
put her family first. Most people would
have let Eula wither away at the nursing home due to her own spitefulness. Mary
Bliss did not. She took her responsibilities seriously and helped those she
could. She held on to her confidence,
her sense of right and wrong and tried not to judge others unduly.
Shocking moments include the renewal of relationships in “Split
City” everyone who was spilt got back together and her marriage, which she
considered the only stable one around, was the one that ended. Poetic justice or just the way life works
out? 
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