[.ca] 1106 Grand Boulevard (ISBN 1932586393)

An Unpretentious, Wildly Entertaining Tale of Love's Demands and Consequences:
1106 GRAND BOULEVARD is a tough book to classify and giving it a rating in numbers of stars is yet more difficult. Usually 5 stars indicates a masterpiece of literature, one of the great novels, one of the books destined to climb to the top of the best selling list, or some other dubious notch on the ladder. But Betty Dravis has written an engrossing book about middle America and the foibles and kinks and bonds of the big family, bound together by secrets and by familial love of the unconditional type, and in doing so she has elected to tell her story in the language appropriate to the family. This novel is not overflowing with metaphors and waxing eloquent: Dravis writes with constrained Midwest vocabulary even as her huge cast of characters travels the continent and eventually the world. Her strict reliance on this style pulls the story along with a credibility sense that keeps it real. It is a feat, a writer's decision, and it works. And as such it deserves 5 stars. To relate the story in a brief synopsis would be impossible, so rapid fire are the incidents, so changing the characters, so extensive the time from 1933 to 1997. The story begins in Hamilton, Ohio where the address of the title is the home of the Sloane family. The eldest daughter Billie Jean is a bombshell and a hedonist and marries Cal at sixteen only to be abused and eventually shot by him. Pregnant and a disappointment to her family she moves to Arizona where her Aunt Tommie begins her 'education' about managing men. And manage them she does, going through seven marriages and countless boyfriends as she makes her way through life struggling with her perceived lack of her mother's love and respect and her desperate longing for her original love, Cal. Along the way she grows up and relates to her large family of brothers and sisters in meaningful encounters, only to ultimately learn the etiology and lessons of her lifelong reaction to men and her desperate need to feel the love of her mother. The story shifts from secrets to disasters to hopes crushed by deaths to wild nights and incidents that would destroy a lesser heroine than the impossible not to love Billie Jean. Dravis is able to create characters with a minimum of dialogue and a maximum of response from her heroine's experiences. There is never a dull moment or a gaping hole in the narrative. There are problems with electing to write in the vernacular that I am sure Dravis weighed carefully: phrases like 'Lordy', 'Honey', and repeated familial epithets tend to drone the reader and the use of a drawing of a face at the beginning of each chapter that tends to give the appearance of a running magazine serial instead of a novel. These are quibbles. The task or goal of a storyteller is to capture the attention of the reader and hold the reader 'hostage' until the final page. Dravis is a past master in this. The adventures of Billie Jean Sloane-Taylor-McIvers-Hollings-Parsons-Sinclair-etc... make for a wild ride and a good read. Grady Harp, July 06

Reviewed for Midwest Book Review:
Author Betty Dravis has written an intriguing "faction" as she calls it, eloquently weaving fiction with her own personal history. The end result is a powerful peek into family dynamics and relationships. When 16-year-old Billie Jean Sloane elopes with Cal Taylor, the Sloane family is taken aback. But when Billie Jean flees from an abusive Cal to the sanctum of her family's home at 1106 Grand Boulevard, the family gathers around her in an effort to be supportive. Pregnant and depressed, Billie Jean is taken by her Aunt Tommie to Arizona, where she learns a thing or two about the male species. But always in the back of Billie Jean's mind is her former husband Cal, the man with whom she feels a strong connection. After several failed marriages and numerous relationships, Billie Jean eventually returns to the family fold and embraces her siblings. Through them, she learns some pretty important life lessons, one being the subliminal impetus that drove her to marry an abusive man. "1106 Grand Boulevard" is a fascinating read, reminding this reviewer of the very popular, iconic "Peyton Place" and other books (as well as movies and TV series) of like nature. What better way to spend time than to become absorbed in one woman's life journey and the lessons she learns along the way? Filled with great characterization and an enticing story, this is a must-read, can't-put-down.

Romantic Saga of Pink Lace & Cream? Or... Sage Colored Satin For Y's in the Dream ...:
This work is an Original. It's a captivating offering, designed within the format of a novel; and it succeeds luxuriously within the high entertainment of true escape fiction. Reading the reviews and intro material (in the book and on Amazon), I found them to be well done and informative. By highlighting his personal perspective, C. Robert Lee (Betty Dravis's high school friend who wrote the Forward) gave life to the setting of the home town base of the 1106 Grand address. I was impressed with the Ohio publisher, Just My Best, and liked what she, Janet Sue Terry, wrote about this novel, 1106 GRAND BOULEVARD. The first chapter was a gripping capture, sensitively and crisply composed. Definitely an easy in. In a subsequent chapter, as the kids in the house on 1106 Grand were contemplating, in their young ways, about Billie Jean's situation, I enjoyed the warmth and realism of the kids thoughts and reactions. The family interactions flowed easily and were endearing. I was impressed with the way the author dealt with Cal's background, which was wrenching in the early plotting, beautifully resolved in the denouement. As I continued reading, I found that I was really enjoying the story. The reading rhythm was what was most appealing to me. The syntax moved in a naturally easy way. The cozy family intimacy carried the read for me, though I also felt an intense curiosity, wondering how the many situations would work out, even though the reader knew, from the reviews and intro info, that Billie and Cal would have a split and long time apart. I was deeply intrigued (and drawn in as a reader by that intrigue) by Betty's perspective, as the author, coming through herself as a very young child, second to Bucky, the toddler in 1933. The reader knew that little girl was the author, and yet she played a small (though perky and loveable) role in the plot at that time. Part of the compulsion to continue reading was wanting to know how the author's part would grow as she matured, along with Billie Jean and the other family members. The house itself, as the title and cover imply, played a role in this saga, and Dravis detailed it clearly in the opening of chapter 8. Loved the descriptions of the house, and how Dravis gently explained why it wasn't kept in "mint condition": >> 1106 Grand Boulevard! >> Billie Jean shivered with joy at being in that old house again. She considered the stately gable as the adornment atop the cake of the graceful Victorian structure, making it the grandest house on their block. Set back slightly from the city sidewalk was a concrete wall about two feet high extending the width of the property; an ornate wrought iron fence was embedded into the concrete, with a matching gate before the entrance. There were three steps leading up to the short walkway, then another four steps leading to the front porch and the front door. Surrounding the walkway between the fence and house were a patch of dry, brown grass and a few shrubs; the only color burst from a few neglected rhododendron bushes, gradually going to pulp.... >> As Billie Jean lifted the outside cellar door, she thought, With the rough beating we've given this wonderful old house, it's getting pretty run down. >> Her mood was such that she thought she heard the house respond: That's okay, Billie Jean. That's life and I love it. I'm lived in and welcome the laughter, the patter of little feet. I don't even mind your slamming my doors, banging on my walls, or chipping my claw-foot bathtub. << Dravis, as the author as well as a character in the story, handled Billie Jean's various depressions very well, realistically dramatizing those types of transitions (or coping mechanisms). Also liked the way Dravis described Billie's reactions to Tommie, and the luxurious Arizona house and environment, and how Billie "took to it" (literally like a "fish out of water"; excuse the triteness but that one fits so well, given the desert and all). >> Tommie's eyes swept the cactus dotted vista, taking in a small part of the eighty-eight acres that surrounded their large adobe home. She sighed, then focused again on the curvaceous figure in the pool, watching Billie Jean splash around in the water.... >> Tommie remained on the patio. Lulled into a peaceful mood as always --- by the lush foliage and colorful flowers surrounding their home --- she felt momentarily content. For a while she thought about the years it had taken her and Franky to carve out this special place in the arid desert with its acres of sand and cacti, but her thoughts soon drifted back to her young niece. << When I read the descriptions of Tommie and Franky's home and environment, I thought, yummy! I would get to be there, too! What a great contrast that would be to the house on Grand in Hamilton. Of course I loved both home bases, (and the others to come!). Having such great difference of cultural settings was an escape reading treat. Dravis has a way of describing almost every character's foibles and flaws, without dark criticism (subtly implied or otherwise), with a generosity of seeing the "good sides" ... seeing the natural, understandable reasons for choices, from each person's perspective. I could say this author is a master of getting into the uniqueness of individual perspectives. Dravis did that (walking in the shoes of others) so thoroughly, her compassion (and perky self-honesty) as an author showed (and shined), and provided part of the warmth and sparkle in the story. As I read (and skimmed ahead at dates on chapter headings), I was fascinated with the time "run" in the plot starting out daily, almost like a diary, yet using the more captivating, true-storytelling, novel format. In fact, August 4, 1933 had 4+ chapters and Aug 5th had a couple. That stretching of those key, foundation details, and various characters' views of those days was very effective. Gradually, in a pace appropriate to the story, Dravis began increasing the distance between plot sequences (later chapters were years apart) to include the "whole" tapestry of this particular story she was featuring. I noticed when my book-mark had settled on page 65). I was looking forward to observing the feel of the larger slips in time, how they transitioned from one another. I believed that this technique used by Dravis would be more effective than if she had written a huge, long saga within a thousand-page novel, with a more commonly paced time sequencing for this type of story which spans so many decades. The scenes with Cal, his mother, and Rusty were realistic without being over or underdone. As a parapsychologist/astrologer with a master's equivalent in psychology and philosophy, and a near master's in English; and as a person who is naturally aware of and fascinated with human motivations, growth processes, and natural, cyclic healing ... I know emotional truth when I read, feel, or see it. One of the key parts of understanding Cal, for me, was in the first, riveting chapter, when he told Billie Jean to not "talk down" to him. And, I loved the way Dravis described how Billie Jean handled Cal, especially that part when Billie placed her hand on his shoulder in a loving, but strong way, and began her words with an honest, "I love you." Of course Cal's mother's lightning-slips from ultimate compassion and warm caring, to black cruelty was a core issue, as the author dramatized clearly and cleanly. Sometimes, unfortunately, when a person seeks outside help in matters of emotional scars (and their results in difficult behavior), he can be taken in by pseudo-counseling which can cause much greater harm than good. From my view, as a sentient species we're growing, with a ways to go; we're very young in consciousness level. At this level, some counselors are inspired by pure spirit and do no harm; will possibly do good. Others break my heart by the harm they do in the name of "Good." As I continued reading I looked forward with hope that any help Cal received would be of the purely inspired type, whether from a healthy focus of Christianity (as was the religious background of the people involved here), or from other professional arenas, from loved ones, or from within Cal himself in his contact with his own spirit. I'm not a Christian in the religious sense of the word. I belong to my own religion which is evolving and is based on clear connection with my spirit. Back to this amazing novel of fiction set within a solid foundation of fact, which, according to Betty's reports, is now termed "faction" in the publishing industry. In this book, faction is proving to be a fascinatingly worthy concept. Having read far enough into the chapters which slipped through time much more rapidly than the first several did, I found that the balsamic brevity of the quips of detail in each time frame didn't take away from the depth-of-plot feel a novel needs to have to work as a single, cohesive story. Sometimes, if a plot skips too far, fast, and with not much detail in each of the vignettes, the book can begin to feel more like a dull biographical book, or just too watered-down to work within the entertainment force within a true novel. The time slips gave a unique rhythm, a fascinating reading feel, as they continued to jump sometimes 10 years between chapters in the later parts of the story. I enjoyed the tidbits in GRAND from the historic ambiance of war era (WW-2) icons and lifestyles. Billie Jean became a complex character through those, and she was shown as gaining an astute awareness of human growth, and emotional evolution toward a clearer consciousness. This is a special book; I very much wanted to do justice to it in a review. The story felt like a born-to-do deal; I liked the way Dravis brought in her plan to write it, toward the end of the book, through Billie Jean's mentioning it. I've noticed that some books seem to have more soul in them (especially this one and John Michael O'Loughlin's) when they don't receive the heavy manipulation (various types of editorial machinations) which is often necessary within major publishing Houses' required processes. This "more soul" is true for self-publishing, POD, small presses (and the major publishers as well) when professionalism isn't overdone, and when editorial self-importance doesn't get in the way of honoring the author's spirit and voice in syntax, style, and content. At this moment what seems to have been most successful at keeping my interest throughout the book ... though many qualities in the story and in its style and voice worked for reader kidnap ... was the way Dravis designed her part in the story to play a back seat to Billie Jean, yet to gradually increase Betty's presence ... and the way Betty's relationship with Billie Jean evolved through natural conflicts in perspectives and priorities. All the key relationships in Grand were shown to have developed in healthy, real, cathartic ways. Another author might not have been able to pull off the type of character growth Dravis exposed in such simple, right, yet beautiful ways, sometimes capturing the essence of poetry in crisp, pared down prose. Well done, Dravis! You've married fact with fiction, driving the balance with drama and fun, while tossing in tangy tastes of well-woven wisdom. Yes, you're a Drama Queen, yet you allowed Billie Jean and the rest of your family to carry the show while you reported and embellished. The result is truly impressive and to be applauded. I stand and bow to your accomplishment, and may you give us at least as many novels as you have birthed beloved human babies! (Hopefully with fewer labor pains!) Linda Shelnutt P.S. A direct, unembellished version of the title of this review would be, "This story is not a simple Romance; it's a Treatise on Life's Choices teaching priorities and values." My review titles are Riddles of a sort.

An exciting family drama! What a thriller! What a home!:
I'm from Cincinnati, Ohio (only about 32 miles from Hamilton where much of this story takes place), so when I heard of this book and learned that the house on the cover is the actual childhood home of the author, I decided to take a Sunday drive and look her old home over. Surprisingly, it looks about the same now as it did in the cover photo. It's large, old, and a little weather-beaten, but still quite charming. Although the house is about what I expected, this book is not what I expected. I expected a beautiful, smalltown girl with the usual men and family problems, but what I got was much more. This book is not the usual pablum; Billie Jean is a real woman with real problems ... problems generations of women will relate to. I admire Billie Jean's courage in picking herself up time and time again. What a woman! Most modern book heroines would throw their hands in the air and scream HELP if they faced even half the perils BJ faced. The author's descriptive skills are so good that Billie Jean became alive for me from page one. I couldn't put this book down. You may think it's a typical love story, but think again: This book is a thriller in the best sense of the word. What a plot!! The family dynamics are real and the part the house plays in the story is amazing. I enjoyed this family saga and Billie's Jean's life, but it left me wondering which part is fiction, which is truth. The author is to be commended for handling such a complex plot with such skill and dexterity. A smooth, satisfying, exciting reading adventure. I hightly recommend it.

Do you believe in second chances?:
Some books grab you with an action-packed opening and hook you right in from the first paragraph. Other books reveal the richness of their story a layer at a time. Betty Dravis' "1106 Grand Boulevard" does both. Firmly rooted in small-town America, it ranges through nearly fifty years and across the country from Ohio to Arizona, Nevada and California. Sixteen-year-old Billie Jean Sloane takes center stage as she runs screaming from her young husband's jealous rage, headlong into an amazing matrimonial career. Billie Jean's family, already disapproving of her marriage to Cal, shield her from his remorse and entrust her to the care of her Aunt Tommie where she learns a more calculating approach to relationships -- without losing her sometimes naive desire to marry for love. Fortunate in the love of her large family, Billie Jean is not so fortunate in her marriages. Time after time she marries in haste only to be disappointed in her search for the lasting "love of her life," yet her energy and optimism shine through the author's words. Billie Jean's parents, sisters and brothers circle through her story in a way that made me appreciate the importance in my life of my own family. This book is fiction based on fact, and how I'd like to meet the author's sister (the "real" Billie Jean) and the rest of the family. What a great bunch! Betty Dravis portrays all of her characters lovingly but doesn't sugar-coat them, and their personalities are never overshadowed by the events of the story. They could be your next-door neighbors. This book reminded me of "Standing in the Rainbow" by Southern author Fannie Flagg, having a similar span of time, small-town focus, and entrancing, strong-minded woman as a central character. Billie Jean's personality is very different from that of Flagg's Neighbor Dorothy, but both women live their lives with a consistency and honesty that has the ring of truth -- both are people you'd like to know. Both claim the attention of everyone in their sphere and work hard for everything they achieve. I love a story that somehow comes full circle, referencing and resolving the themes that run through it. This book certainly does that (read it for yourself to find out how!) and it's that resolution that lifts the story, and the telling of it, out of the ordinary. To see the pattern and context in a long, vivid life is a gift, and "1106 Grand Boulevard" gives us that. If it were a movie -- and it should be, with the lead played by somebody easy to like, Sandra Bullock for instance -- I'd be there with a box of tissues in my lap, expecting some tears and lots of smiles. A great story, interesting characters, costumes and interiors from the thirties through the seventies -- what could be better? Betty Dravis' beautifully paced book kept me reading late into the night, fingers crossed that the irrepressible Billie Jean would find the true, satisfying love we all yearn for. If you believe in second chances, you will love this book!