Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (Great Gatsby-esque novel)
I'd like to start things off with a quick banger
You may be wondering, what the f😅ck? I don't know what else to say except every time I read the title of this book, I'm reminded of the In the Garden of Eden scene from The Simpsons. A classic!
"He was tall, about fifty, with darkly handsome, almost sinister features: a neatly trimmed mustache, hair turning silver at the temples, and eyes so black they were like the tinted windows of a sleek limousine -- he could see out, but you couldn't see in."
Jim Williams is a charismatic antiques collector. He lives in one of the most beautifully restored mansions in Savannah, Georgia -- a feat that he himself helped to accomplish -- and has now gone on to host some of the most elegant parties in town.
"His party soon became a permanent fixture on Savannah's social calendar. ... That Friday night became known as the night of Jim Williams' Christmas Party. It was the Party of the Year."
Of course, being a wealthy antiques collector does come with some benefits... Williams notes that Savannah has become a popular destination for filming movies. He recalls a time when they were reenacting the 1865 assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and paved the streets with dirt.
"I decided to ruin their shot, and this is how I did it." ... Williams held a piece of red cloth over his head. It was an eight-foot Nazi banner."
Before Jim can continue his hilarious anecdote any further, a sharp voice pierces through the house. A young man, "with his arms tattooed -- a Confederate flag on one arm, a marijuana plant on the other." He makes a comment about problems with his girlfriend, grabs a bottle of vodka, storms back out, and sends his car squealing down the street.
"That was Danny Hansford. He works for me part-time refinishing furniture in my workshop."
"But he did not address the most curious question of all: Danny's presence in the mansion, and the fact that he apparently had the run of it."
Williams assures us that Danny is only present in order to aid Williams during his moments of poor health. He changes the subject by recalling a different moment of Danny's outbursts, this one involving a German Luger and firing a bullet into the floor.
"I did not ask the obvious question: why do you have anything to do with him? Instead, I asked him how many guns he owned."
Williams tells us that he has several, and that he keeps them in strategic places throughout the house -- all loaded.
We meet more interesting characters.
"I was standing at the sales counter in Clary's drugstore after breakfast one morning, and when I turned around, I was confronted by a scarecrow of a man."
Luther Driggers is an eccentric character as well, although perhaps for the wrong reasons. Every morning he orders himself the same breakfast; some mornings he eats, other mornings he doesn't. "And whenever Luther walked out of Clary's without eating his breakfast, it was a sign that his demons were stirring."
Luther is the inventor of the flea collar. He knows all about pesticides and poisons, and how to use them. So the people of Savannah were worried about something far worse than a lack of appetite.
"It was rumored that Luther had in his possession a bottle of poison 500× more deadly than arsenic, a poison so lethal that if ever dumped into the city's water supply it would kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah."
We decide to talk to Luther one morning. He questions us on whether we know what black lighting is. He informs us that he is experimenting with fluorescent dye.
"I got to thinking what a shame it was that goldfish didn't glow in the dark. So I'm trying to find a way to make them glow."
But by far the most eccentric -- or perhaps even narcissistic -- character that we meet, is Chablis (or as she likes to be referred, The Grand Empress of Savannah.
We first meet Chablis out front of Dr. Myra Bishop's doctor's office, who just helps herself to a ride when we pull up onto the curb. She informs us that her name is Lady Chablis, a stage name, for she is a showgirl.
"So what was your name before that?"
"Frank."
(Source: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0149288/mediaviewer/rm2391086848/ )
That's right; Chablis is a man. More specifically a black trans-woman who works as a drag queen at a club. It is at this point in the novel where I personally learn a lot of things about the trans/drag community that I did not formally know! 😅
"I don't overdo the hormones," Chablis said. "When I get too much of them, I don't climax. So I get off them now and then just to relieve the tension. I take just enough hormones to give me that feminine glow and keep a chest on me."
Chablis has a white boyfriend named Jeff, whose father is a Baptist minister. She recalls the time that Jeff's mother confronted her... on being pregnant. The pair end up conning Jeff's parents out of $800, "to pay for her abortion."
"Six months later, we went back and convinced them I was pregnant all over again. That got us another $800, which paid for a few more gowns and a flawless weekend up in Charleston."
Chablis invites us to one of her shows. We are allowed backstage, where even more information is fed to us 😵
"This is a gaff, honey. It's somethin' like a G-string. First you pull your stuff back between your legs, then you step into the gaff and pull it all the way up. You shove your ovaries up inside you too -- that's what I call my testicles."
And don't even get her started on duct tape! 😰
"Duct tape is for when you wanna be butt-naked. You tape your stuff back inside the crack of your ass, honey, and nobody knows the difference. But you talk about pain!"
Chablis ends up quitting on the spot, something about unfair wages, but she leaves her boss with her last piece of advice.
"Put on four pairs of panty hose. Do that, honey, and everyone will swear you got a pussy!"
"One Saturday morning in early May, the telephone rang. It was Chablis."
She asks us if it was Jim Williams that we recently went to interview; that she was reading the newspaper to discover that Williams had shot Danny Hansford.
"Did Danny Hansford die?" I ask.
"He musta did, honey, 'cause they're chargin' Mr. Williams with murder."
This is what is written in the newspaper: Williams claims he shot Hansford in self-defense. Police were called at around 3 AM and went to Williams house, where they discovered Hansford lying dead on the floor. He had been shot twice: once in the head, once in the chest. Two German Lugers were found in Williams study.
Jim's secret also comes to light. His reason for entertaining Danny's tantrums and bailing him out of jail.
Hansford had been a part-time male prostitute, and apparently Jim Williams gay lover as well.
Trial begins. The prosecution's theory is that Williams murdered Danny Hansford, point-blank. They claim that Hansford had been unarmed when Williams shot him, that there was no gun residue left on Hansford's hands, and that Williams staged the crime scene.
The prosecution also calls a surprise witness forward: Danny Hansford's best friend. The man states that Williams had purchased Hansford a variety of things "in exchange for going to bed with him." He also claims that Jim Williams had been responsible for supplying Hansford with drugs.
In the end, the jury finds the defendant guilty of murder.
However, not long afterwards, new information comes to light that contradicts one of the witness's statements.
"Judgement reversed. A new trial must be ordered."
Second trial... This time the defense is able to confirm that police moved objects during their investigation. The defense also calls a surprise witness, who swears that she heard several gunshots all at once on the night Hansford was killed, disproving the prosecution's theory that Williams staged it.
(Source: https://newslang89.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/midnight-in-the-garden-of-good-and-evil/ )
Yet the verdict still comes back the same: guilty of murder.
After nearly 2 years in jail, the Georgia Supreme Court finally overrules Jim Williams' guilty verdict. So a third trial ensues!
Another surprise witness is called on behalf of the defense; a nurse who claims that she had to put bags on Danny Hansford hands instead of the police. This would explain why he had no gun residue on his hands! Yet it ends in a hung jury and the judge declares it a mistrial!
Jim Williams goes on trial for the fourth time! This time the jury finally declares him: not guilty.
But the novel ends on a rather ominous note... On the morning of January 14th, 1990, Jim Williams dropped dead of a heart attack.
"Williams had died in his study, in the same room where he had shot Danny Hansford. He had been found lying on the carpet behind the desk in the very same spot where he would have fallen 8 years earlier, if Danny had actually fired a gun and the shots had found their mark."
My review... A solid 6/10 👍
The author did a wonderful job of portraying life in Savannah, and I would be lying if I said that I didn't consider moving there myself! 😄 The characters are extremely realistic and unlike any that I have ever read about -- and that's probably due to the fact that this novel is based on a true story! In fact I had no idea that there was even a movie based on it starring some very well-known actors, and directed by Clint Eastwood!
(Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_in_the_Garden_of_Good_and_Evil_(film) )
A photo of the real Danny Hansford
(Source: https://thecrimewire.com/true-crime/The-Shooting-of-Danny-Hansford )
I personally found the book to be very Great Gatsby -esque. There are similarities and shared themes between the two books, including "old and new" money, the outrageous parties and laidback lifestyle, and the even more standoffish characters. In fact I would go so far as to say this is almost a sequel to The Great Gatsby, the events that would have taken place after Jay Gatsby had been killed...
All of that aside, I would say my biggest complaint would be the surplus of unnecessary details. I understand trying to paint a scene and again, I give the author credit in being able to pull the reader into the story. But it reaches a point where we are simply bombarded with unnecessary information. Irrelevant people, chapters upon chapters of Savannah's history that do nothing to advance the plot... My summary was over 1,500 words, and that's omitting more than half of the book! 🥵
Anyway, that will do it for me! Thank you for reading, and until next time 🙏
