The Mammoth Cheese

by Sheri Holman Narrated by Laural Merlington

Overview

An Our Town for our times, The Mammoth Cheese is beautifully crafted and driven by warm, vibrant characters as it follows the residents of rural Three Chimneys, Virginia, on their journey to re-create the original Thomas Jefferson-era, 1,235-pound “Mammoth Cheese.” As the audiobook opens, the town is joyously celebrating the birth of the Frank Eleven: eleven babies simultaneously born to Manda and James Frank after fertility treatments. But as autumn progresses and the babies weaken, the community seeks to redeem itself through the making and transporting of a symbolic Mammoth Cheese to Washington, as a gift for the newly elected President Brooke. The cheese is the brainchild of August Vaughn, a farmhand by day and a President Jefferson impersonator by night, and the creation of Margaret Prickett, a single mother and cheese maker trying to save her century-old family farm.

Sheri Holman seamlessly weaves together the lives of Three Chimneys, delving into her characters' inescapable family histories as they grapple with religion, divorce, politics, and unrequited love. The Mammoth Cheese is a triumphant exploration of the burdens and joys of rural America and the debts we owe to history, our parents, and ourselves.

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times

Like the 1,200-pound cheese of the title, Sheri Holman's novel is a big, ambitious enterprise. Unlike many such enterprises -- though again like the cheese -- it possesses, page by page, or bite by bite if you prefer, an intense, refined and lingering flavor. — Richard Eder

The Washington Post

Holman deftly weaves these stories together, as well as a series of subplots, some of which are profoundly moving. Will Margaret ever notice the Jefferson re-enactor who loves her? Will Polly fall victim to the predatory Harvey March? And what will Washington make of a mammoth cheese floating down the Potomac? That first big cheese may have been a particularly silly slice of Americana, but from it Holman has fashioned a tale that is poignant and powerful and, like an award-winning cheese, surprisingly complex. — Chris Bohjalian

Kirkus Reviews

A rambunctious third novel from the author of A Stolen Tongue (1997) and The Dress Lodger (2000). This time out, Holman virtuosically entangles two arresting plotlines: the ripple effects of the birth of (count 'em) eleven babies to an exhausted Virginia woman and the creation and transportation to Washington of the eponymous protein source. When "Manda" Frank, scion of a white-trash family, in the tidy, history-rich town of Three Chimneys, produces unprecedented results of her consumption of fertility drugs, well-meaning neighbors shower the beleaguered Franks with gifts and promises; presidential candidate Adams Brooke (the self-proclaimed "Farmer's Friend") drops by, and fiscally embattled dairy farmer Margaret Prickett is persuaded to re-create an obscure incident from the presidency of Thomas Jefferson: the creation and delivery to the White House of a 1200-pound wheel of cheese. Holman's enthralling narrative, which ranges among the experiences and interrelationships of several expertly drawn characters, also incorporates an impressive amount of detailed information about such resolutely untrendy matters as farming, cheesemaking, animal husbandry, house construction, and the flexible,if austere moral nature of one of our most ingenious and articulate Founding Fathers. Poor Manda Frank's nightmarish maternity (exacerbated when several babies inevitably die) is smartly juxtaposed with Margaret's initially passionate, eventually wavering support of the pragmatic Brooke, and her conflicted relations with two other beautifully realized characters: her hired hand August Vaughn, a part-time "Chautauquan living historian" (i.e., Thomas Jefferson impersonator), unable to declare his love forMargaret; and her adolescent daughter Polly, herself seeking "liberation" through a romantic fixation on her intense, challenging history teacher. All strands are conjoined as the cheese marches to Washington, shepherded by Holman's most winningly complex character: Pastor Leland Vaughn (August's father), a tireless Christian worker torn between his guilt for having partially encouraged Manda's perilous pregnancy and benign intervention in the needy lives of his parishioners and neighbors. Part Jon Hassler, part Robert Altman film-and all-around terrific. $100,000 ad/promo; author tour. Agent: Molly Friedrich/Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency

DEC 03/JAN 04 - AudioFile

This quirky novel will remind listeners of a John Irving novel with its wildly diverse characters acting in extreme situations amid a vivid setting. Laural Merlington informs the plot with her skillful ability to convey the conflicting emotions and self-doubts of each character. There’s the new mother of 11 babies, born of fertility treatments; the minister who talked her into having all of them; and his son, August Vaughn, farmhand and longtime secret admirer of Margaret Prickett. And it’s Margaret who creates the mammoth cheese in an effort to save her family’s century-old dairy farm. It sounds Dickensian, but the novel unfolds cleanly, revealing a beautifully crafted story and vibrant characters. D.G. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172320415
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	05/16/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

It was a long walk to the end of the driveway. Margaret Prickett saw the sun glint off Mr. Kelly's U.S. Post Office truck, nearly airborne from the pink and blue balloons tied to his sideview mirrors in cheerful disregard of government regulation. He loved kids, probably because he had none of his own, and kids loved him. When her daughter, Polly, was a little girl, she used to leave wax-paper cups of Pepsi inside the mailbox, the red flag raised so that he wouldn't drive past thirsty. And though by the time he opened the little black oven the cola was flat and fatty with melted wax, in gratitude he would always leave her a rubber band. It was a splendid economy.

Mr. Kelly only got out of his truck when there was something to sign for, yet to Margaret's eyes, he stepped out seemingly empty-handed. She waved to him, a big hearty arm-sweep, as if to say, Great to see you. Got something good? He waved back, a small, unenthusiastic little shake from the wrist that could only mean registered letter.

Sure enough, she spotted it on his clipboard, the little square of serious pale green. She stopped about fifty yards away from him, suddenly overwhelmed by the mid-afternoon heat of the day. Maybe she could just turn around and calmly walk back to the cheese house, lock herself in, and make August deal with Mr. Kelly. Maybe she could just stand there until he disappeared like the mirage he looked to be in the heat, a postal specter no more valid than a canceled stamp.

Videos