Redd, Louise. Hangover Soup
Faith Evers' hangover soup is one of many remedies available to her alcoholic husband Jay. Jay, a popular jazz DJ, solicits remedies from his listeners, records them in a notebook, and otherwise ignores his drinking problem. Faith leaves Jay when she finally realizes that drinking is more important to him than she is.
Faith moves into the dorm at University of Texas where she tutors student-athletes and Jay launches a campaign over the airwaves to lure Faith back to him. The campaign takes on a bizarre life of it's own. Faith, Jay, her students, and his listeners are drawn into the drama, which climaxes in an accident that will change everything.
Hangover Soup is a difficult story to read. The story of lives wracked by alcoholism and its effects is heartbreaking. It is Faith relationships with her student-athletes that provide the comic relief and the chance to see Faith in a role other than suffering spouse. The student's lives are filled with life and death issues such as will they start in the upcoming game, or will they pass their courses. Their concerns contrast sharply with the harsher issues that are facing Faith. The combination of Faith's warm relationship with her students and her struggle to renew her relationship with her husband offer a compelling story.
Louise Redd is adept at creating sympathetic female characters. Playing the Bones (1996) introduces Lacy Springs a woman struggling with childhood issues, an impending marriage, and an affair with an up and coming blues player. Lacy also spends a great deal of time with her therapist Eva. Eva is a graduate student in psychology and is using her time with Lacy to complete her thesis. The relationship between the two women is wonderful and helps to highlight Lacy's relationships with the men in her life.
Anne-Marie Mulligan, December 7, 1999.
Lucius Beebe Memorial Library - This page last updated 12/7/99 - lme.