403 pages
English language
Published July 30, 2002 by Random House.
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a 1987 novel by Fannie Flagg. It weaves together the past and the present through the blossoming friendship between Evelyn Couch, a middle-aged housewife, and Ninny Threadgoode, an elderly woman who lives in a nursing home. Every week Evelyn visits Ninny, who tells her stories about her youth in Whistle Stop, Alabama where her sister-in-law, Idgie, and her friend, Ruth, ran a café. These stories, along with Ninny's friendship, enable Evelyn to begin a new, satisfying life while allowing the people and stories of Ninny's youth to live on. The book, which was made into a 1991 film, explores themes of family, aging, lesbianism, and the dehumanizing effects of racism on both blacks and whites.
I read this after seeing the movie and this is one of the very rare cases where I still enjoyed the movie more. Still this was a nice read and I really enjoyed that and the recipes.
So, I still teared up a little. but mostly I wished there had been more about Idgie and Ruth. I found the non-linear storytelling to be a bit distracting, and Evelyn wasn't interesting until the last 50 pages or so. But Idgie and Ruth and all their loved ones were fascinating. Also, the lack of treatment Ruth's death received was just rude. She and Idgie both deserved more than that. the ending didn't offer much closure, and posed more questions. This is one instance where the movie might be more satisfying.
The ending was a bit anticlimactic.
