Dovey Coe

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Dovey Coe
Frances O'Roark Dowell
2000

The Summary
"'My name is Dovey Coe and I reckon it don't matter if you like me or not.  I'm here to lay the record straight, to let you know them folks saying I done a terrible thing are liars.  I aim to prove it, too.  I hated Parnell Caraway as much as the next person, but I didn't kill him.'

"Dovey Coe says what's on her mind, so it's no secret that she can't stand Parnell Caraway.  Parnell may be the son of the richest man in town, but he's mean and snobby, and Dovey can't stand the fact that he's courting her sister, Caroline, or the way he treats her brother, Amos, as if he were stupid just because he can't hear.

"So when Parnell turns up dead, and Dovey's in the room where his body is discovered, she soon finds herself on trial for murder.  Can the outspoken Dovey sit still and trust a city slicker lawyer who's still wet behind the ears to get her out of the biggest mess of her life?"

The Good
Dovey Coe was an unexpectedly interesting and engaging piece of children's literature.  Featuring a tough, no-nonsense narrator and a story littered with hints of rural Appalachia, Frances O'Roark Dowell's novel is a fascinating little story about a young girl faced with a very big problem:  everyone believes she murdered Parnell Caraway.

Naturally, she didn't.  (Not that I would have minded.  Parnell was a cruel man who had designs on Dovey's sister and, eventually, Dovey whom Parnell blamed when Caroline wouldn't return his affections, and I grew to distrust him as much as Dovey did.  For good reason, too.)

In some way, Dovey Coe reminded me of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.  I mean, for one, you have a rambunctious female narrator, a convoluted court case, and a lawyer with a heart of gold (looking at you Atticus).  It's interesting to see the parallels and, while it's certainly not as ground-breaking as Lee's novel, it strikes much the same tone, using a familiar Southern dialect to convey the language quirks of the region.  It makes me think of Scout Finch and Huck Finn, which I enjoyed.

Plus, I liked that Dowell didn't succumb to the usual tropes when portraying Appalachia as riddled with illiterate hillbillies.  (Deliverance, anyone?)  I know the history of the region, I'm intimately familiar with it, so I was relieved when the author reflected the history, culture, and dialect of the region without poking fun or ridiculing.  I thought she did a wonderful job of portraying the mountain communities of the early 20th century, and she does a wonderful job of depicting Dovey.

The Bad
The conclusion seemed to wrap up rather quickly.  That might seem like an odd complaint, but I think it's a valid one.  You see, Dovey Coe took quite a while to build up to the trial.  It gave plenty of background information on Parnell and Dovey and their families, it gave context to the community and the rivalry between the Coe and Caraway families; more to the point, it showed the circumstances that lead to the final, fatal conflict.

But the trial seemed to last no time at all.

In the aftermath Dovey's trial, readers learn the truth behind Parnell's death, which doesn't take more than a couple of chapters.  I was surprised and a little disappointed by the sudden--and startlingly quick--wrap up after I spent chapters and chapters (literally) learning about Dovey and Parnell and Caroline and everyone else.  The ending seemed almost anticlimactic by comparison.

The Ugly
Parnell really was a piece of work.  It's terrible to see his unbridled cruelty inflicted on others.