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a novel
by Clayton Sullivan
(bio and other books)
Why Beulah Shot her Pistol Inside the Baptist Church
is a smartly
written tale of a young
Mississippi girl, Beulah Buchanan, raised in the
Primitive
Baptist
Church.
When she was only sixteen, she marries Ralph Rainey, a much older
man who is a deacon in the church. Beulah has no feelings for
Rainey, she hardly even knows him, but he talks sweet to her and
tells her she is pretty and so she imagines that life with him would
be far better than the one she knew with her oppressive parents.
Beulah was mistaken. Ralph Rainey’s idea of a wife turns out to be
nothing short of slavery and for the next six years, Beulah works in
her domineering husband's cafe all day and cooks him dinner at home
every night. He doesn’t touch her lovingly, but climbs on top of her
once in a while for sex. Beulah longs for a gentle touch, and her
loneliness leads her to an affair with the preacher. With this
affair, everything begins to unravel.
Sullivan writes this story through Beulah’s voice and he does an
excellent job of showing us Beulah’s good heart and potential
without compromising the story’s integrity. This novel has humor,
some dark, which makes Beulah’s life with Ralph Rainey that much
more convincing. A poignant moment for Beulah is when her husband
sets his old tired working mule on fire. The scene is disturbing,
terrifying and yet, humorous too.
If you grew up in the rural south, you will appreciate the novel for
its authenticity, sad as it may be. If you did not, it’s as good as
taking a trip into the life of a poor
Mississippi
girl.
The last chapters are unpredictable. The decisions Beulah makes in
the last chapters are a bit puzzling perhaps to ensure an
unpredictable final chapter, but in no way to did her decisions
lessen her authenticity as a rural Mississippi girl in, as the
author says, “a rural rut.”
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