Walking in Tall Weeds

Title: Walking in Tall Weeds
Author: Robin W. Pearson
Major Themes: Family Conflicts, Secrets, Relationships
Synopsis: A family in conflict, a secret that was kept too long, and unresolved bitterness…can Paulette, her husband Fred, and son McKinley work through their pain and save their family’s relationships?

Several years ago, I read A Long Time Comin’, and I appreciated the way Robin W. Pearson drew on her southern roots to produce a gripping story set in a culture I know little about. It was a good story, difficult in some ways, but like some of Dickens’ works, it was honest about the conditions the characters found themselves in. When I saw Walking in Tall Weeds come available, I decided to try it because I was interested to find out what other intriguing stories Mrs. Pearson had up her sleeve. I didn’t find this one as good as A Long Time Comin’, which was disappointing, but again, the sense of rich cultural nuances and family ties came through strongly in the story.

Paulette Baldwin loves her only child, McKinley. Though she always longed for more children, he was the only one the Lord blessed them with, and throughout his life, she’s done her best to let him know how much she loves him. Much to her dismay, though, McKinley and his father, Fred, have had a stiff disagreement going on for a year now, which has sent McKinley hundreds of miles away to work. Now that he is coming home for a visit, she hopes their differences can be worked out and smoothed over, but McKinley makes it clear he does not intend to follow his father’s plan for his life. With her marriage on the rocks and a growing suspicion that there may be more to her husband and son’s conflict than meets the eye, is there anything she can do to bring her family back together again?

One of the biggest disappointments I had with Walking in Tall Weeds was that I felt very confused throughout most of the story. I’m not sure what caused my confusion—whether it was the reading season I was in or the book itself—but that made it very difficult to follow the plot and, consequently, it took me a while to finish reading the story.

One thing I did appreciate about the book, though, was the family aspect. This story depicted a family that was on the verge of falling apart, but somehow, the characters still worked to try to smooth over their differences and do what the Lord wanted them to do through it all.

Dealing with unresolved pain from the past, ambitions to prove oneself, and learning to love and lean in even when people are doing things you don’t agree with, Walking in Tall Weeds is a story of hope and faith amidst sorrow. I wish I could have loved it more, because it had a great premise, but honestly, when I finished reading it, I was grateful to move on to something else. I’m looking forward to trying another Robin W. Pearson book in the future, because I know she’s a good author—this book just wasn’t the greatest fit for me in that season.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion of it.

WARNING: Heck is used in ch. 1, 14, 21, and 22; daggone is used in ch. 1, 2, 10, 13, 20, and 25; darn or a variant is used in ch. 1, 2, 3, and 13 (twice); “goodness gracious” or a variant is used in ch. 1 (three times), 2, 3, 13 (twice), 22, and 23; “what the devil” is used in ch. 1 and 4, and “put the devil” in ch. 11; blasted is used in ch. 3; “heaven forbid” is used in ch. 4; “her heinie” is used in ch. 5, “kept his butt home” is used in ch. 8, and something similar in ch. 11; shoot is used in ch. 5, 6, 8, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 24, and 26; sworn is used in ch. 5 and 20; dang is used in ch. 9, 18, and 22; “like the dickens” is used in ch. 13 and 18; “jeez Louise” is used in ch. 17; and “the Lord knows” is used in ch. 23. Lying is remembered in ch 16, and a character lies in ch. 17. Occasionally, people are referred to as “that’s the devil I know”, etc. A woman is called “hell on wheels” in ch. 13.

A married couple kiss or hug occasionally—ch. 1 (a mention of her curves), 6, 7 (a man thinking about his wife’s thigh), in ch. 12, a woman mentions “the passion stuff”, in ch. 13, a woman mentions being intimate, there is some touching and a kiss in ch. 23, a mention in ch. 24 that a married couple spent a long time out by themselves and another kiss, another kiss in ch. 25, and another in ch. 27. An unmarried couple holds each other in ch. 20, 21, 22, 24 (with a kiss), and there is a kiss in ch. 26.

Occasionally, there are references to a man in the past who had one mistress after another after his wife left him. A man faints and collapses in ch. 18. There’s a mention of the Klan hunting black men in ch. 21. 

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