A Top Ten Finalist for Best Historical Novel, Goodreads Choice Awards, and a LibraryReads and Okra PickA big-hearted coming-of-age debut set in civil rights-era New Orleans—a novel of Southern eccentricity and secrets When Ibby Bell’s father dies unexpectedly in the summer of 1964, her mother unceremoniously deposits Ibby with her eccentric grandmother Fannie and throws in her father’s urn for … throws in her father’s urn for good measure. Fannie’s New Orleans house is like no place Ibby has ever been—and Fannie, who has a tendency to end up in the local asylum—is like no one she has ever met. Fortunately, Fannie’s black cook, Queenie, and her smart-mouthed daughter, Dollbaby, take it upon themselves to initiate Ibby into the ways of the South, both its grand traditions and its darkest secrets.
For Fannie’s own family history is fraught with tragedy, hidden behind the closed rooms in her ornate Uptown mansion. It will take Ibby’s arrival to begin to unlock the mysteries there. And it will take Queenie and Dollbaby’s hard-won wisdom to show Ibby that family can sometimes be found in the least expected places.
For fans of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt and The Help, Dollbaby brings to life the charm and unrest of 1960s New Orleans through the eyes of a young girl learning to understand race for the first time.
By turns uplifting and funny, poignant and full of verve, Dollbaby is a novel readers will take to their hearts.
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Enjoyable easy read. Liked the characters and am a fan of historical fiction.
Loved this book
An amazingly clever, fast-paced read that will grip you at its first page. This story is all action and is so tightly crafted, it could serve as a writer’s tutorial on how to “Show, don’t tell.” This is a story that hooks and unfolds. The reader stands in the foyer of a mansion in New Orleans now comfortably lived in, somewhat worn of its former glory, and watches the eccentric main characters twitter about through the eyes of Ibby, whom we meet at age twelve as an outsider. From her vantage point, we learn about New Orleans, we learn about its customs and we come to know the characters that make it so. And at the heart of the story is Fanny, Ibby’s grandmother, the proprietress of the house who has a mysterious past. Two canny maids are attendants to Fanny and anchor the story through their interpretation. Their intensions toward Ibby are maternal and their speech is perfectly portrayed Southern patois ( and I know; I’m a Southerner) that is delivered in such an accurate way that it is never overdone. Dollbaby is a story about finding one’s family in the strangest of places. It reveals a web, thread by thread, that explains Ibby’s family in a way that is understandable and forgiving while simultaneously taking the reader on a joy-ride through the nuances of New Orleans. There is not a “dang thing” wrong with this book, so if it’s captivating entertainment you seek in a book, read this one!
Really enjoyed the area of the story. Time period.
And reality of the story line
I very much liked it. It showed how things were in the South with black help. Very good to read about the good in people of any color.
Loved, loved, loved the book
I loved this book, didn’t want to put it down!
In a light-hearted manner, Dollbaby tells the truth of the 60’s in New Orleans.
Great characters.
I really liked this book!
Really enjoyed this book. I especially liked Frannie. I would want her for my grandmother. It was fun seeing the relationship between Ibby and Babydoll develop. Lots of twists and turns.
Loved it
Good book pleasantly surprised
Accurat portrayal of the era.
I was underwhelmed. The story was predictable.
Loved the storyline and characters
Oh what to say? I found the verbal interaction between the characters so entertaining. I laughed out loud, I was upset by the mistreatment of southern black people in the 60’s and I was proud of the humor, strength and love of the strong women. Great read!
Good characters and memorable storyline.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the characters, each and everyone of them. I enjoyed the unexpected twists In events. The book kept me entertained far past the time I should have been asleep, but I just could not stop reading. Have recommended it to many of my friends. Especially ones from New Orleans.
Loved this book !
Did not live up to the hype. I was so eager to read about N.O. in the 1960s, my coming of age era. As a native Louisianian, I witnessed much of the strife of those times contemporaneously and not a few events first hand. To be fair, I was similarly disappointed in “The Help.” Both were light weight almost fluff presentations of harsh realities. We need another “The Color Purple.”