Cold Sassy Tree is Olive Ann Burns classic southern novel filled with humor and honesty telling the tale of Grandpa Rucker Blakeslee and his family who live in Cold Sassy, Georgia. Narrated by Will Tweedy, Rucker’s fourteen year old grandson, the story takes us through the ups and downs of a small southern town during the early twentieth century.
A mere three weeks after the death of his wife, Mattie Lou, Rucker Blakeslee announces to his family that he plans to get married again so he will have a wife to take care of him. Rucker plans to marry Miss Love Simpson, the young hat-maker who workes in his general store. Rucker’s daughters, Mary Willis and Loma, completly dissapprove of the marriage and are greatly concerned about the gossip their father’s remarriage will cause in their small town. It is not even a month past Mattie Lou’s death, Miss Love is half Grandpa Rucker’s age, and she’s a Yankee from Maryland! However, none of this greatly concerns Will Tweedy, he sees Miss Love as a nice woman who can help look after his grandfather.
As expected by his family, the people of Cold Sassy dissapprove of Rucker’s quick marriage and start to spread rumors about Miss Love and Rucker. Unlike the rest of the family, Will spends a lot of time at the Blakeslee home and develops a friendship with Miss Love. Because of this, Will discovers that the marriage between Grandpa Rucker and Miss Love is a marriage of convenience. Miss Love married Rucker because he promised her the deed to his house and the furniture. Rucker married Miss Love because he needed someone to look after him and felt a wife would be cheaper than a housekeeper. Mary Willis and Loma are devastated by this news as they both wanted specific pieces of furniture that were their Mother’s and now they can not have them.
After the marriage, Will and his father try to convince Will’s mother, Mary Willis, to go to New York with Hoyt to purchase supplies for Rucker’s general store. Mary Willis does not want to go, as she is supposed to be in mourning for her mother, but in the end Will and Hoyt are able to convince her to go so she can get away from Cold Sassy for a while. However, just as they convince Mary Willis to go to New York, Rucker decides he should make the trip instead of Hoyt and that he is going to take Miss Love with him. This news emotionally crushes Mary Willis, fueling her hatred of Miss Love. To try and focus Mary Willis on something other than her grief and dissapointment, Hoyt buys a new Cadillac, becoming the first owner of a motor car in Cold Sassy.
When Rucker and Miss Love return from New York they are coy and affectionate with each other causing Will to question if the status of their relationship has changed. Rucker announces, upon his return, the he has purchased a motor car and that he plans to start selling cars in Cold Sassy. Meanwhile, Will has begun developing a friendship with classmate Lightfoot McLendon who lives in the deprived section of Cold Sassy, known as Mill Town. One afternoon Will takes Lightfoot for a ride in theCadillac and kisses her. A neighbors sees the kiss and tell’s Will’s parents. They are outraged that their son would associate with common people and forbid Will to see Lightfoot again. Will is also restricted from driving the Cadillac for two months, but he gets around this by driving his Grandfather’s car.
On Sunday afternoons Will has been teaching Grandpa Rucker and Miss Love to drive. One Sunday Will has an accident and crashes the car into a creek bed. Whild they wait for the car to be repaired Will overhears his Grandfather telling Miss Love that he is in love with her and want’s to have a real marriage with her. Miss Love sends him away telling him that she had been raped by her Father and noone would want her. Rucker tells Miss Love that her past does not matter, but she still sends him away. Eventually, Grandpa Rucke and Miss Love fall deeply in love.
After Will’s uncle, Camp Williams, commits suicide, Grandpa Rucker hires Will’s worst emeny, Hosie Roach, to work at the general store in Camp’s place. The increased income allows Hosie to marry Will’s adored Lightfoot. Soon after this happen, two theives rob Grandpa Rucker and beat him up. Rucker survives his injuries, but develops pneumonia. Although his life has been hard, Grandpa Rucker still tells Miss Love that God provides strength and comfort to the faithful in times of need. Miss Love soon tells Will that she is pregnant with Grandpa Rucker’s child, but that he does not know. Atlhough the town of Cold Sassy has not accepted Miss Love or her marriage to Grandpa Rucker, she knows they will support her child. Miss Love decides to stay in Cold Sassy, regardless of what happens. Shortly after Grandpa Rucker dies, but his message of faith in God gives Will the strength to cope with the death of his beloved grandfather and the other events in Cold Sassy that so deeply affect his life.
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