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Driving Miss Daisy
First published 1987 · 108 pages
A quietly moving portrait of two stubborn souls finding profound kinship across the divides of race, class, and time.
What it feels like
Reading this play feels like eavesdropping on a lifetime of car rides, watching the slow, tectonic shifts of a relationship built on stubbornness and unspoken affection. The pacing is steady and episodic, leaping across decades to capture the subtle erosion of prejudice and the deepening of a profound, unlikely bond. Because it is a script, the prose is entirely dialogue-driven, crisp and economical, demanding that the reader pay attention to the spaces between the words, the sighs, the silences, and the shifting power dynamics. The mood is intimate and bittersweet, steeped in the changing social landscape of the American South. It will deeply satisfy readers who love character studies where monumental emotional changes happen in the quietest, most ordinary moments.
- Mood
- intimate
- nostalgic
- bittersweet
- quietly shifting
- Tone
- wry
- poignant
- unsentimental
- affectionate
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- the passage of time · unspoken devotion · aging and dignity · erosion of prejudice · unlikely companionship
- The writing
- Crisp, economical, and entirely dialogue-driven, relying on the unsaid as much as the spoken word to reveal character.
- The arc
- Moves from prickly resistance and mutual suspicion to a profound, quiet, and enduring companionship.
- Who it's for
- Readers who appreciate intimate, character-driven dramas that explore the quiet, profound shifts in human relationships over decades.
Content notes
- racism and racial prejudice
- aging and cognitive decline
- grief
About the book
Presents the script of the play "Driving Miss Daisy," the story of the strong bond that develops over the course of twenty-five years between an elderly Jewish widow and her chauffeur, an African-American man.
Description from Open Library.
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