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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I like novels with relevant characters and stories. This writer is familiar with both and makes the reader right at home with them.
Gentle, loveable characters. The story had many twists and turns.
A family story that takes you to places who don’t expect
Good read
Great story line.
This is One of the best books I’ve read in a long time I wish there would be a sequel to it but I doubt it having grown up in the south this really hits home the twists and turns in the story will have you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end
Insight into the South during the 60’s
This is a fun read full of great settings, characters, love, understanding, and growth!
Quirky, believable characters, poignant story.
I enjoyed this book. Kept my attention!
I enjoyed the book. I also learned what it was like in the south in that era.
I really enjoy this author, I actually read this book last of her three current novels, reading Masterpiece first. She (the author) is worth the buy.
This was really a good read!
This was a very good historical fiction book. I liked reading about a long time ago, and this little girl’s life. Very interesting and enjoyed the unexpected twist.
Excellent book about a tragic time of hate and bigotry and how we are ultimately all tied together.
I loved how the characters in this book interacted with one another. They were well-developed and each was important to the story. There were several twists I wasn’t expecting. A very enjoyable read.
Some have coupled this with “The Help.” However, this is completely original in its setting, character development and ending! This book was mesmerizing and I read it into the wee hours of the night! And yet, as the end approached, I read as slowly as possible to make it last. One of my favorites this year!
I enjoyed the characters, the story line. Good read.
This book was so-so for me.
Great characters! Didn’t want it to end.