The Banty House Kindle Edition

The thing I love about a book from this talented storyteller is the down-to-earth realness of it. She gives us beloved characters who are simple yet complex. Characters with all of their flaws, pain and vulnerability displayed in such a way that it serves to endear them even more to the reader.She writes about real life, with all of its struggles and pain, yet leaves our hearts happy and satisfied with an uplifting, joyous ending. To borrow from a cliché, she begins with lemons and then, step by step, takes us through making the sweetest, most wonderfully refreshing lemonade, sprinkling humor and sentiment in equal measure along the way.Rooster, TX, population 95, has southern, small-town charm complete with colorful, quirky characters and meddling neighbors. This small town has changed a lot over the decades that the three Carson sisters have lived there in the Banty House.The house itself has known a questionable past, but it's been in the family for generations, changing with the times to meet the needs of the community. The first rule of the Banty House, which the Carson sisters' mama set down more than half a century ago, is never turn away a stranger.I can’t find the words to explain how deep the emotional hits go and how uplifting, inspiring and satisfying this amazing story is. From tears to laughter, abandonment to unconditional acceptance, and the pain and ghosts of the past that lead to healing and joy, these characters will have your heart beating to their rhythm and leave their permanent mark on your soul.This unforgettable must-read is just what you need to escape for a few hours and leave your heart full, happy and content. Visit Rooster, TX, right away. You just might want to stay there forever.

I have loved every book by Carolyn Brown, but this one touched me in a way no other book has. I am 76 years old and finally decided what I want to be when I grow up. I want to be any of the 3 sisters! I have never laughed so hard and yet cried like a baby! Thanks Carolyn for your best ever book and I have loved all of your books. Here's to many more! I give it 10 stars out of 5! Impossible you say? Nope, an easy 10 stars! 📚📚📚

At first I thought maybe Ginger was going to be a flake, but she turns out to be an old soul and I should have known any character written by the wonderful Carolyn Brown would be a heart warming character. The three Carson sisters, Kate, Betsy and Connie are just absolutely wonderful. One makes moonshine in the basement (she also went to Woodstock as a young woman), one grows weed out in her impeccable flower garden, and the last one is a clean freak with a love of crystals/colored gems. Then there is Sloan, back from Kuwait after losing his bomb squad, and shouldering a load of guilt that he is still alive. If you have never read a Carolyn Brown book, please read this one to see what a down to earth writer she is. If you are a fan, then you know you will love this book. I wish all small towns had a Banty House and three sisters like the Carson sisters. Too many Gingers and Sloans don't have three wonderful older women to be in their lives to enrich them and love them.

As always I chose this book because of the author. I was not disappointed. It's a romp with the 3 sisters and their rescue of Ginger and Sloane. It is also a sweet romance between 2 people that needed to see they were worthy of love. I would love more like this one. I think Carolyn Brown shows characters of a "certain age" well. These ladies had sweetness to them but also knew how to live and how it is to be young and not limit yourself to others' opinions of you. Thank you for a great novel!!!!!!!!!

It will be a part of me forever. At 85 years of age I totally "get" the ladies...a beautiful love story. Thank you. Barb

I love Carolyn Brown stories. I have not found one yet that has not made me laugh out loud or cry, but not ever in a bad way.This story is like the others it makes me feel like part of that person's family. The characters are always so interesting and the narrator's are always so great. The fact that Carolyn Brown only live about 30 minutes from me makes it special because the towns she talks about are places I know well. Even if the main town in the storyline may be fictional. The pets that are in the story no matter what small part they play is always fun.I will be reading more stories by her for sure. And also recommend this book to my daughter Cherries Butler and my sister Wanda Newkirk.

I couldn’t stop reading! A great story to read during this quarantine. The characters’ personalities and resilience were well written.

I love Carolyn Brown's stories they are written well and are easy to read. This is about three elderly, single women born to a madam of a brothel and her love that she refused to marry because she was afraid it would ruin his reputation and career. They took in strays from time to time it usually have them a hot meal and a place to sleep for a night until Ginger dropped into their lives 1, alone and 8 months pregnant. Ginger meets Sloan at the Bantu House, he did shows for the sisters, and it was love at first sight. The sisters are characters. Mate the oldest makes moonshine and battered services with it, Betsy grows her own weed, smokes and makes brownies with it. She gives a pan of it to her friend, Flora to give to her cantankerous mother so she can get a break. I think Connie was OCD because she never stopped cleaning and never missed a speck of dust. Connie was the only sister that had passed by the end of the book. Ginger and Sloan did marry, she put his name as the father on her daughter 's birth certificate and then have him twin girls all raised with the Bantu House sisters as their great grandma since the had declared their parents their grandchildren years before. The book ends with the oldest daughter, Martha Belle, and her manner Kate cutting the ribbon at the first moonshine store.

Amazing story, I love Carolyn Brown's stories but this one is special. Carolyn Brown is a writer I know is going to have characters that you can look back to and say that's exactly like someone Remember or know. There is no bad language,but true family life.Made me want to go and visit these people and get to know them.Thank you once again Carolyn Brown.

A real pleasure to read. Great characters, amusing, quite moving . It was so nice to read such a heart warming story, especially so as there was a very noticeable lack of swear words: what a pleasure!!

The premise of the book was very promising - three sisters raised in a former brothel, an ex soldier with PTSD and a pregnant young girl escaping an awful past. Lots of scope for developing the characters, dealing with gritty issues and an excellent plot.But oh dear oh dear oh dear. What a missed opportunity. It was frankly dire. I had figured out the ending somewhere in Chapter 2. The rest of it was just tedious domesticity and wholly unbelievable relationships. The characters all spoke with the exactly same sweet winsome voice, and there was no character development at all, other than their various preferences for cooking, distilling moonshine or smoking weed. None of them seemed to have any greater emotional baggage than someone who had mislaid their second favourite pair of gloves. Sloan pursued his mission with no greater emotional commitment than half-heartedly looking for said item.Most of the few plot developments were desperately contrived and handled with no tension or reality whatsoever. The episode where Sloan saved the day in the hosptial was jaw droppingly bad and took contrivance to new levels, and I can't believe anyone in fear of being blown to bits would be standing around batting their eyelids at the hero while he saved the day. If only all ex-servicement could recover from PTSD so easily with a bit of flirting with a young girl and a couple of conversations with relatives of the departed who just happened to be at the gravesides the days that he visited (quelle surprise!).Honestly, this is one of the lamest books I've read in years, and it was virtually drowning in syrup. I was skim reading after the first third, and by the last third I was just reading the first and last sentences in each chapter and the odd few lines in between just to see if I was right about the ending. (I was.) If this was cast for a movie, Rock Hudson and Doris Day would be an absolute shoe-in. But we're not in the 1950s any more, and literature has thankfully moved on. There's feel good happy ever after family dramas and there's just lazy Mills and Boon standard pulp. This is the latter.

I adored this book! Sweet, funny, a little sad but so uplifting and heartwarming. I loved all of the characters and loved the ending. Would highly recommend this as an easy, light, happy read!

Thank you Carolyn Brown for another easy reading story. Enjoyed every minute of reading so addictive couldn't put it down. Loved the three sisters so funny. Thanks again.