Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns

Cold Sassy Tree is a moving novel written by Olive Ann Burns. It is filled with interesting life-like characters that are foils or opposites of each other. Two of the characters are Mary Willis Tweedy and Loma Campbell. Mary Willis and Loma sisters and they are both alike and different in many ways. The same is true for me and my sister Amna.

Loma and Mary Willis are very different people but they can be alike and agree on many things. When their father, Rucker Blakeslee, gets married to a woman young enough to be his daughter, just three weeks after his wife dies. They are both also very shocked why their father says “Well, good gosh a'mighty! She's dead as she'll ever be, ain't she? Well, ain't she?” They think that it is a disgrace to their mother’s memory that their father would say something so terrible and get married just three weeks after his wife went to the grave. Also, they both care about what the town is saying about their family. They know that people will think that Miss. Love has had her eye on Rucker’s money; and that Rucker has had his eyes on Miss. Love since he met her also. They both dislike Miss Love very much. For one thing she is almost a Yankee and Yankees are looked down at in Cold Sassy. Loma acted very harshly to the news of her father remarrying because she cared about her reputation in Cold Sassy but also because she disliked Miss Love a lot; Aunt Loma was the prettiest, most stylish woman in town but after Miss. Love moved to Cold Sassy this wasn’t true anymore. Mary Willis also dislikes Miss. Love. One say when Rucker and Miss. Love came Mary Willis’s home for dinner Rucker enjoyed the cake that Mary Willis made so much; he wanted Miss Love to make the cake for him and told Mary Willis to write the recipe down for her. Mary Willis said to Miss Love “It’s in that old brown shoebox in the pantry with all Ma’s other receipts. Unless you threw the box out.” Mary Willis was still spiteful towards Miss Love for stealing her trip to New York and she thought that Miss Love was trying to take her mothers place by making the same things her mother did. Another way Mary Willis and Loma are alike are in their physical traits. They are both young and have red hair. Both of them are also style conscious. When Miss Love and Rucker Blakeslee brought the white dress for her from New York, she was as pleased as could be; but when she remembered that she was in mourning for her mother and could wear such a bright dress she burst out crying. Mary Willis is also very style conscious; when people knock on her door and she is wearing an apron or isn’t dressed appropriately, she makes sure than she as presentable as she can be. Mary Willis and Loma are sisters so they share many qualities but they can also disagree on a lot of things.

For one thing Mary Willis would never become a milliner. When Loma’s husband dies, she wants to make a living, so she asked Miss Love to teach her how to be a milliner. Mary Willis believes that southern woman shouldn’t work outside of the house. They should stay home and take care of the house and look after the children. Also