Chapter 4 Summary
Grandpa has a beard, bushy hair and merry eyes. Will looks like him and is his heir, since Grandpa had no boys, only girls. Grandpa is belligerent and likes to get into fist fights. He is a good shot. He keeps his liquor at Mary Willis’s house, however, because his wife, Mattie Lou, didn’t allow it in their house. That’s the only thing she has any say about. Will likes to be with his grandfather more than his father, because his father is so worried about sin all the time, and “Grandpa was more fun” (p. 21). Grandpa thinks he will give Will an interest in the store, but Will wants to be a farmer. Several family members are employed by Grandpa’s business and cotton warehouse. Uncle Camp, Loma’s husband, is not very bright, and Grandpa does not respect him.
Love laughs a lot and wears perfume. She has been trained as a milliner and boards out with local families. Considered an old maid in her thirties, she nevertheless is admired for her big bosom and refined manners. Loma is jealous because she is flat-chested.
Chapter 4 Commentary
This chapter tries to give more background on the newlyweds. Grandpa is his own man, and Love seems to be her own woman. Love has tried to set up meetings for women about getting the vote. Hardly anyone came because it is not a hot topic in Cold Sassy. The men like to look at Love, but the women are jealous. They do, however, like the fashionable hats she makes. She also is popular for her piano-playing for the Methodist church. She is tolerated in Cold Sassy, but when she elopes with Grandpa Blakeslee, it’s clear she is in for the cold shoulder.
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