The Whole Town's Talking

Lordor Nordstrom

1889

Missouri, USA

At age twenty-eight, Lordor Nordstrom had left his home in Sweden for America, looking for land to buy. Months later, while crossing down through southern Missouri, he found a large tract of good, rich land with plenty of natural springs, just right for a dairy farm. After he had cleared an area for his farm, he placed an ad in the Swedish-American newspapers for young farmers to come and start a new community and soon others joined him, bringing their families and farm animals with them. By 1880, a small farming community had formed that other people in the area called Swede Town, in spite of the fact that two Germans and one Norwegian (who was suspected of being Finnish) now lived there.

Today, Lordor Nordstrom stood on the top of a small hill looking over the long expanse of rolling green meadows and little white farmhouses below. It was so quiet and peaceful up here, nothing but the sound of birds and distant cowbells. He could see there was a most pleasant view from every angle. Exactly what he had been looking for.

He would donate this land to the community and name it Still Meadows. Walking back down the hill, Lordor felt very pleased with himself. As the original settler, he felt a great responsibility to the settlers who had come after him. And he had just found the perfect spot for their final resting place in the upcoming years.

In the following weeks, Lordor and all the local men cleared the land on the hill and began measuring and blocking out rows of burial plots. Each plot was given a number, written in both Swedish and English, so there would be no confusion. They built a nice wooden arch as an entrance that was carved with flowers and read still meadows cemetery, estab. 1889.

After all the landscaping was complete, Lordor called a meeting out at his farm, and announced that since they were all first settlers, their plots would be free, first come, first served, which seemed to Lordor the only

Fannie Flagg’s career started in the fifth grade when she wrote, directed, and starred in her first play, titled The Whoopee Girls, and she has not stopped since. At age nineteen she began writing and producing television specials, and later wrote for and appeared on Candid Camera. She then went on to distinguish herself as an actress and a writer in television, films, and the theater. She is the bestselling author of Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man; Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe; Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!; Standing in the Rainbow; A Redbird Christmas; Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven; I Still Dream About You; The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion; and The Whole Town’s Talking. Flagg’s script for the movie Fried Green Tomatoes was nominated for an Academy Award and the Writers Guild of America Award and won the highly regarded Scripter Award for best screenplay of the year. Fannie Flagg is the winner of the Harper Lee Prize. She lives happily in California and Alabama.

[A] witty multigenerational saga . . . [Fannie] Flagg s down-home wisdom, her affable humor and her long view of life offer a pleasant respite in nerve-jangling times. People

The Whole Town s Talking [is] Fannie Flagg at her best. Florida Times Union

If there s one thing Fannie Flagg can do better than anybody else, it s tell a story, and she outdoes herself in The Whole Town s Talking. . . . Another brilliant novel equally on the level as her famous Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. The Newport Plain Talk

Told with warmth, humor and remarkable characters, this touching novel is a tribute to the indomitable spirit of love. The Columbus Dispatch

Delightful. The Washington Post

I could not put this book down and didn t want the tale to end. Fannie Flagg does it again; a great read you won t want to miss. The Missourian 

It s a sweeping, cinematic approach. . . . Flagg s gentle storytelling makes the novel an easy, comfortable read that will leave a reader thinking about life, love and loss Minneapolis Star Tribune

[Fannie Flagg] creates a world familiar in its reality and its hopes, and she displays her storytelling skills, ones that are enhanced by her humanity, her optimism and her big heart. . . .The Whole Town s Talking [is] a story of life s peaks, valleys and ordinary days and a ringing affirmation of love, community and life itself. Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Whole Town s Talking is warm and inviting. Flagg s Elmwood Springs novels are comfort reads of the best kind, warm and engaging without flash or fuss. Miami Herald

Flagg s humor shines through as she chronicles their successes, disappointments, and even a mysterious murder or two. . . . The interwoven lives of these completely engaging characters twist and turn in unexpected ways, making this chronicle of a close-knit community a pleasure to read.