If not the queen of authors who write sweet stories that avoid being saccharine, Fannie Flagg is certainly royalty. She returns with her distinct blend of insight and humor with “Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven.”
Octogenarian Elner Shimfissle knows she isn’t supposed to climb the ladder to pick fruit from her fig tree, but it seems like such a bother to ask for help with this small task. Figuring she’ll be up and back before anyone is the wiser, she doesn’t think twice about dragging the ladder over to the tree. Unfortunately, she jostles a wasp nest she didn’t realize was there, and the attacking horde startles her into falling off the ladder.
An ambulance is a rare sight in the small Missouri town of Elmwood Springs. When the editor of the weekly newspaper hears the siren, she knows she’ll have a story to write: “Usually when an ambulance or a fire engine had been called, it was headed on out to the new four-lane traffic stop, or else it was headed on out to the mall. Since Weight Watchers had moved next to the Pottery Barn, people trying to walk off those few pounds before they weighed in had sometimes overdone it and fallen out with heart attacks.”
It seems like every resident of the town is taken aback by the news that Elner is heading to the hospital. Sure, she climbs up on the ladder when she isn’t supposed to, and this isn’t the first time she’s taken a fall – but hurt badly enough to go to the hospital? The news is cause for concern.
And, in their concern, each of Flagg’s unique characters, who are a loosely defined extended family for Elner, play a role in the unfolding events. Tot Whooten, the hard-luck case who owns Tot’s Tell It Like It Is beauty shop, saw Elner fall and called the ambulance. Elner’s control-freak niece, Norma, hears the news and heads to the hospital in a tizzy. Norma can’t believe that Elner actually hurt herself this time, but perhaps a stay at the hospital will give her a chance to clear the clutter from her aunt’s house. Norma’s husband, Macky, tries to calm and reassure his anxious wife, but he cannot get over his own worries this time. And as each of the large cast of characters frets over
Elner, they also have reason to reflect on the many ways in which she has touched their lives.
Flagg’s stories are as light as cotton candy but nowhere near as sticky. With short chapters that flit from character to character, she captures the sense of the town and those who live there.
Elner emerges as quite the character, not so much stubborn as a woman who uses the mind and heart she’s been given. And in doing so, she’s made an unforgettable impact on those around her.
In this folksy, perhaps oversimplified view of life, the truths that emerge are that love and compassion are – always – the best course and that people are put here on Earth to enjoy their lives. And when Elner’s friends have to face the possibility that she may no longer be a presence in their lives, the realization of her gifts is more than an appreciation. Those who have been touched by Elner decide, each in his or her own way, to make choices that put the lessons they have learned into practice.
“Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven” is a light pastime, a read that is here and gone as quickly as a lovely sunset. It isn’t a work that will resonate for long, but it isn’t meant to.
Robin Vidimos is a freelance writer who reviews books for The Denver Post and Buzz in the ‘Burbs.
Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven
By Fannie Flagg
Random House, 365 pages, $25.95
