Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

John Berendt

John Berendt moved from New York City to Savannah, Georgia, in the early 1980's. He was a writer who was enchanted by the city and the people. He soon was included in different areas of Savannah's society because he was a writer. One of the people he met, Joe Odom, teased him about the book he would write about Savannah. During the times he spent in Georgia he met a wide variety of interesting people.

Joe was a lawyer who spent his life in one continual party. Chablis was a black woman who had a flair for the extravagant. Luther Driggers wrestled with his own demons and had poison that could contaminate the Savannah water supply and kill the populice. Minerva is a voodoo witch. Lee Adler is nationally known for his work in restoring historical urban housing. Jim Williams is an antiques dealer who restores old houses and collects Faberge pieces. Danny Hansford is a wild young man who has violent spells. These are only some of the people Berendt describes as he gives the reader a wonderful picture of the insular city of Savannah.

He also chronicles a murder mystery that involved people from high society and in the best houses of the city. The killer admitted he pulled the trigger that killed the other person. But was it murder or self defense? The case was quite sensational. People from all levels of the city's society were involved in botht he prosecution and the defense.

This is great. I did not know what to expect - I had vague notions of ghosts and murder. Instead I found a marvellously told tale of real people that had me laughing at all their eccentricities. All cities have them; Berendt shows us some very interesting and likeable people with their own foibles. The murder trial could rival anything seen on lawyer shows on television. Even now the truth is cloudy, not totally known. I now know why this book is so popular.