The Sweet Life

In her eagerly anticipated second novel, The Sweet Life, York catches up with the good people of Swan’s Knob for another poignant, funny, and beautifully realized glimpse of small-town life in the South.

It’s been eight years since Roy Swan successfully won the hand of piano teacher and resident choir director, Miss Wilma and now, their lives have settled into a state of happy predictability. But all that changes with the arrival of Miss Wilma’s teenage granddaughter, whose estranged father, Harper, follows shortly behind. Soon Harper has convinced Roy to let him stage a “small” country and bluegrass concert in his pasture, drawing thousands of screaming fans, not to mention a small forest of Porta Potties. Roy and Wilma weather each new tempest with grace and grit, until a crippling stroke leaves Roy debilitated—and life in Swan’s Knob becomes a lot less simple.

A worthy successor to her memorable debut, Lynn York’s The Sweet Life weaves a story at once whimsical and wise, filled with all the warmth and charm of the South itself.