If it was possible to rate this book more than 5 stars, then I would rate it. This book takes the reader through the joys and heartache of life and love. With lots of laughter in-between. I honestly do not know what I liked more the balls, the thunderjug, the jello lady or Dr. Jack Me-Off. Ms Archer has written a classic novel that will grace the shelves of my library for all time.
The character's Janet, Matthew, Charles, Adam, and George were wonderful. When you add in a Southern parents that just top everything. Southern families are not embarrassed to talk about anything.
I will happily share this book with my friends but I will never give it away. This book will be kept for future re-reading.
Thank you Ms. Archer for sending me the book through the goodreads.com giveaway. ( )

I found this story delightful and entertaining. It's hard to find a book that makes you laugh and cry at the same time. I enjoyed the quirky free-spiritedness of the characters and found that even through the difficult painful moments of their lives there was strength in the knowledge that love can get you through most anything.

I felt like it was well written and loved the "cliffhanger moments" at the end of the chapters that kept me wanting to read more. I also was surprised at some of the revelations and think that if I can read a book and say "wow I never saw that coming!" then the author did a great job in not being predictable. ( )

The Hat Lady in Drag tells the story of Janet Kent and 4 very important men in her life. Janet begins the journal while sitting in ICU waiting for her husband to wake up from a coma.

There were a few typos and in certain places it felt that some parts had been cut and the book hadn't been edited to remove the other mentions of the cut scenes. Despite the errors, I found myself really enjoying the story for the most part. There were places where it was a bit dry, but I wanted to know who this mysterious Hat Lady was so I continued through. I'm glad I did. ( )

The Hat Lady in Drag:The Journals of Janet Kent by Katherine Archer has a few problems. The title is the first one. It sounds like it should be a good idea, but it isn't. It is memorable - just not in a good way.

As soon as we meet Janet Kent - our erstwhile heroine and resident damsel in distress - the problems really begin. The premise of the story is that Janet's husband is in a coma in ICU fighting for his life after a virulent attack of pneumonia , so Janet writes the story of their life together while she waits for him to wake up.From these facts alone, you would think that Janet must be 70 or so - reflecting on a lifetime of love and shared memories. Janet is not 70 ...as far as I can tell, she's barely even 30....Her voice needs to be on life support, not her husband.

Janet waits, and Janet writes...and writes...and writes. She reminds her comatose husband of their turbulent past, his addiction-driven rages, and all her other lovers. So uplifting. It would not be possible to summarize the plot of this story as there is not one single detectable plot line that makes any sense. It seems as though the author has taken the the plots of two or three romance novels of the past and tried to modernize them with some late twentieth century angst and a little rock n' roll redux. The resulting chaos is claustrophobic at best.

If there were even one appealing character in the whole of this jumbled narrative, it might be salvageable. As it stands, the heroine is vague, helpless, dimwitted and spineless. With no sense of directed action, Janet ricochets from one man to the next. In the span of days, and sometimes hours, she swings from undying love for one to pledges of commitment to another. She is helpless and hopeless. It is not possible to care whether she lives happily ever after - by the end of the book ,I just wanted her to go away. Furthermore, the men Janet is involved with do not rate even one whole sentence in this review - no self-respecting woman with at least three functioning brain cells would spend more than five minutes with any of these morons.

As to the writing itself....I sense the presence of an intelligence at the back of all this hoo-hah.It is nearly hidden, however, by all the "cute" literary tricks the author uses:cliffhangers every chapter, hints and clues pertaining to dark revelations in the future, strange repetitive phrases.These things do not produce the desired pleasant shivers of anticipation or smiles of appreciation - instead, they made me nauseous.

If this is Katherine Archer's first book: Congratulations! Next time, please write about your cat that needs therapy. I would like to read that book - my cat and I could read it together. ( )