Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story by John Berendt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Charming.
That’s the one word that I would use to describe this book. I grabbed the audio version of this with a credit on audible, and didn’t pay too much attention to its classification. Until halfway through, I was under the misconception that I was listening to a fiction story.
It made it much more worthwhile when I found out that it was a true crime. I remember a bit of buzz about it, and I remember the cover of the book in the stores. But otherwise the big had no impact on me, recently having turned seven years old when it came out.
The narrative is a vibrant glimpse into the old southern society of Savannah, Georgia in the 1980s. The characters in the story, like The Lady Chablis, and Jim Williams, seemed to be creations of a compelling imagination, drawn up in crisp profile. Yet that they are real people on display is fascinating. Though author Berendt didn’t invent the characters, he brings them to life in vivid detail.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil brings the reader into the action, the drama, the allure of a society that’s existed long before the book started, and will go on long after the book is over.
I found it to be engrossing and enjoyable, and anyone with a fondness for stories about the south and the machinations of old societies would do well to read this book.
Michael Treadway 