Mary Ellen Thompson reviews SHIP WATCH

Let’s Review!

Mary Ellen Thompson reviews SHIP WATCH

An utterly delightful and exquisite romp through the playgrounds of the Southern aristocracy, Ship Watch, Johnathon Scott Barrett's debut novel, has it all. The cover sets the tone for the excesses contained within.

The Randolph family, and the characters that encircle them are a privileged group, with perhaps one exception, are surprisingly not haughty to extreme. Amongst them, they wear their exquisite jewels, drive their Bentleys, Mercedes and BMWs, wear leather driving gloves, and frequent their exclusive clubs, all with the same day to dayness of the less fortunately financial. After all, they are exceedingly wealthy and it is simply their birthright to do exactly as they please.

The story begins with the Randolph’s extended family gathering for dinner at Ship Watch, their riverside plantation so named for the view of the shipyard from the Victorian cupola and widow's walk that adorned the top of the house. “George Randolph had been sent to Savannah to expand his family’s shipbuilding and iron business, which proved to be very successful ventures in these new United States. Commerce and shipping were booming, and the family prospered with it.”

With his money, he bought land, built an extraordinary house in the 1870’s and filled it with custom made furniture that was featured in a magazine stating, “the most extensive, important, and valuable collection of fine American Southern furnishings in the world.”

The grande dame, Martha Stephens Randolph, aptly called Grand Martha, is a wickedly wonderful leading lady. To call her a steel magnolia would be an insult, like comparing a dinghy to a container ship. She not only has the fortitude, but also the means and resolve, to jiggle her bracelet laden arm and watch the marionette’s dance. You just can't help but wish she had been your very own cousin and best friend.

Prior to dinner, Martha holds a family meeting and a discussion ensues about the future of the plantation. Will the bad behavior of the current residents lead to the plantation being deeded to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, or can the Grand Dame-wannabe finagle a different scenario?

Elizabeth “Lily” Baylor Randolph, poor thing that she isn’t, as she is getting ready to go to the dinner at Ship Watch, “… walked to the elevator at the rear of her house. She rode up two floors to the top and stepped directly into her dressing room. Before she and Add Jr. had moved into the townhouse and given up the plantation to that difficult beyond words daughter-in-law, he allowed her to convert the 1500 square feet fourth floor into one large, exquisitely designed space to house her wardrobe.”

The entire fuss over the future of Ship Watch is the pending divorce of Lily’s children, Addison “Trip” Peyton Randolph, III and Jana Ray Chandler Randolph, ostensibly due to an affair conducted by Trip. Jana is eager, so she says, to secure the plantation for their twins. But apparently Jana may have done a little stepping out on her own.

You will root for the good guys, sneer at the snobs, and want to lunch and shop with the women, play a round of golf and catch a fish or two with the guys, and then sit on the veranda and share a cocktail. In other words, most of the characters, despite their bank accounts, are just plain likable. Then, there are some instances where you might like to tear the pearls off of a woman, and stuff them up her nose one at a time.

Among the affable characters are sprinkled the disdainful, the sorrowful, the weary, the bereft, and the humorous.

Louvenia Steward MacGregor, aka Lovey, well, she just could not have been more aptly named.

“While not a large woman, she nonetheless always seemed to fill up a room due to her expansive and garrulous personality.”

I fell in love with Lovey on the very first page when she offers her friend, April Anne, a cocktail apparently before the stroke of 5:00.April Anne demurs but Lovey explains the fine art of drinking, “Nonsense. Here in Savannah it is a tradition to have some libation when you are getting ready to go out for the evening. It’s called a gettin’ ready drink.”

April Anne Adams, as her name suggests, is a breath of spring air. She is a best selling author and attorney visiting Lovey for the summer, after her own divorce in New York City. Has love left April Anne behind or is there some spring left in her chicken?

Patrick Collin Steward Hogan is Lovey’s cousin and driver. His sense of humor and quick wit have everyone laughing and championing his future. Lovey tells Patrick,” Well now, you know I’d rather walk a mile on my lips than criticize someone.” To which Patrick quips, “If that’s the case, Miss Lovey Mac, your odometer is about to turn over another hundred thousand any minute now.”

Buckner Pearson, appropriately called Buck because his name is an accurate description of his personality and rhymes with his favorite pastime, is a deplorable little snot and we are happy to see him get his comeuppance at some unlikely hands.

The cast, for the most part consisting of people with at least three names, goes on and on.

Mr. Barrett has very kindly included a list of characters at the beginning of the book, which is very helpful and I found myself having to reference on occasion.

Like many segments of wealthy society, it is essential to have at least two vacation spots - one to get away from the heat (or cold) and one at the beach. From the town of Savannah, north to the mountains in Highlands, and southeast to the beaches of Sea Island, this crew of the rich and famous move easily between the three, and it would seem, never even have to fill their own gas tanks on the way.

Evictions, lawsuits, plotting, conniving, cunning, and revenge are deliciously interwoven. We have all heard stories of revenge but emptying cans of tuna fish in the spare tire compartment of the car your mother-in-law has repossessed is a new giggle.

Savor the descriptions and you will find that you are right there in the action, tasting the biscuits, enviously admiring the 9 carat diamond, feeling the fluffy fur of the dogs, breathing the fresh mountain air, falling in love again, and imagining what it would be like to be wealthy beyond belief.

Pick Ship Watch up when you have time to read it all at once because you will not want to put this book down.

Mary Ellen Thompson’s interview with the legendary Pat Conroy was published in A Lowcountry Heart. A lead features writer for Beaufort Lifestyle Magazine for eight years under Julie Hales reign, and columnist for Lowcountry Weekly for ten years, she has also written for WELL READ Magazine, Southern Literary Review, Heavy Feather Review, Pooler Magazine, Effingham Magazine, Carolina Arts Magazine, St. Mary’s Magazine and Eat, Sleep, Play Beaufort.

Mary Ellen has very happy feet and loves to travel. Raised on the Main Line of Philadelphia and the Eastern Shore of MD, she has a B.S. From Skidmore College in Business. Currently living on Saint Helena Island, SC, she hosts a Writer’s Residency for the Pat Conroy Literary Center, and is writing a retrospective narrative.