Lunch at the Piccadilly

Lunch at the Piccadilly BY CLYDE EDGERTON (ALGONQUIN BOOKS OF CHAPEL HILL, $23.95)

You know you're heading for fun when this acclaimed author starts a luncheon outing with a maroon 1989 Oldsmobile; Lil Olive, new resident of the Rosehaven Convalescence Center; and Carl Turnage, her devoted nephew trying to work up the nerve to forbid his gold-slippered aunt from driving. The deftly drawn humor shines as bright as Aunt Lil's shoes.

In this new novel, the North Carolina author sets his talents on a zany tale about old folks and those who love them. One woman lays bets on whether another resident's glass eye comes out at night. A guitarplaying, singing minister, L. Ray Flowers, envisions a movement that intermingles churches and nursing homes ("Nurches of America").

The novel never stoops to punch lines that play on the indignities endured by those nearing the end of their lives. Rather, honor and respect abide in this gentle tale of the twilight time.

NANCY DORMAN-HICKSON

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Oct 2003
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