Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! is the funny, serious, and compelling new novel by Fannie Flagg, author of the beloved Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (and prize-winning co-writer of the classic movie).

Once again, Flagg's humor and respect and affection for her characters shine forth. Many inhabit small-town or suburban America. But this time, her heroine is urban: a brainy, beautiful, and ambitious rising star of 1970s television. Dena Nordstrom, pride of the network, is a woman whose future is full of promise, her present rich with complications, and her past marked by mystery.

Fans of Fannie Flagg's Southern-fried yarns will enjoy her folksy reading of her third novel--the story of New York TV anchorwoman Dena Nordstrom, who must take her fast-paced life down a few notches, face her mysterious past, and shake hands with her small-town heritage in order to find happiness. Listening to Flagg's storytelling on this abridged rendition, one might as well be sitting across a kitchen table from her as she pours two cups of coffee and serves up slices of apple pie along with the latest neighborhood gossip. Flagg, author of the bestselling book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, received a Grammy Award nomination for her narration on the audio version of that book. (Running time: five hours, four cassettes) --Kimberly Heinrichs