Little Tea

Little Tea by Claire Fullerton
This wonderful coming of age novel will easily draw you in with its old southern charm. Friendship has a way of keeping hearts close no matter time or distance and as Claire reunites with Ava and Renny, memories surface, old flames are revisited and time starts to heal.
Claire Fullerton’s writing is beautifully descriptive and I loved her storytelling in Little Tea! My first, but not my last novel by this author!

This is the second novel I’ve read by author Claire Fullerton whose stories have deep underlying threads; threads rooted far below the surface. Buried deeply where pieces float to the top to be examined; set aside until all the pieces are together, creating a puzzle with jagged, sometimes sharp edges, that turns into a healing masterpiece when all comes to light.

Little Tea, the author’s most recent release, had turned out to be a rather timely release. Three women, childhood friends, meet at a lake house owned by Renny, one of the three. The other two are Ava and Celia Wakefield. Having grown up in the south, part of the story focuses in an era in southern society where being “colorblind” is considered a virtue.

A deep friendship existed between one of these woman and the daughter of her parents’s maid; a young black girl called Little Tea. Their friendship was deep and abiding; until the high school that is. Back then once a young woman reached a certain age, they were expected to learn how to put on southern airs of gentility, and leave behind the friendships of childhood, especially if they were not of the same skin color. Suddenly it was no longer acceptable to be associated with “those” people or to invite them to parties, even if it never mattered before. A friend is a friend, no matter what.

It was these things that drew these three friends together, broke them apart to mere tolerance of each other, then drew them back together once again for three days that could be the end of the friendship, or the restoration of a much deeper relationship.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and Just Read Tours, and am not required to write a positive review. All thoughts and opinions therein are solely my own, and freely given.

“Little Tea” is the first book that I have read by author, Claire Fullerton and will not be the last. From the minute I opened the book to the last page, I was pulled into the story.
The story takes place in Mississippi and is about Celia who meets up with childhood friends Ava, Little Tea and Remy after spending some time apart. We learn about the past and present of the women and the people in their lives.

Ava is having marriage problems and looking for help from her friends. Little Tea is about the friendships that span a lifetime, racism, the gap between poor and rich and adultery. A beautiful friendship where Celia does not see white or black, despite the racism coming from both sides.
If you love Southern Fiction I recommend the book. Pull up a chair and dive into the beautiful story.
“I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.”

Three childhood friends, Renny, Ava and Celia, decide to get together after 10 years. They come together at a lake house in Arkansas. When Celia’s old boyfriend shows up, these ladies have to face some issues of the past. Will their lifelong friendship survive?

I adored the setting of this book. I live here! Ever place in this book I know. I am from outside of Memphis in a small southern town. And this author talks about a town very similar to mine plus, all the familiar areas of Memphis. She nailed it. She also nailed southern culture without making any of the characters seem stupid! Kudos! But, it is a little wordy in places. It also slows down in spots. But, that is minor compared to the wonderful characters and the southern culture.

This is a marvelous tale about friendships, love and family. Grab your copy today!

I received a copy from the publisher for a honest review.

Thank you in advance to JustRead Publicity tours for gifting me a complimentary advanced review copy. A positive review was not required and all words are my own.

Up until last year, I didn’t even know there was a genre called “Southern Fiction”. It wasn’t until I joined JustRead as a host that I found out about it.

To describe Southern Fiction – “Southern Fiction is story-driven with distinctly Southern characters living within the realm of Southern tradition, both historical and contemporary” – this is taken directly from the publisher’s website.

And, despite the few books I have read – this is an unfamiliar genre for me. But, it is a unique and different type of read. Claire Fullerton is one such “Southern Fiction” author, and one who is new to me.

Some content warnings: there will be some racial epithets/slurs/insults as respective to the time and culture; some same-sex references and a relationship; murder; and under-age drinking. The racial divide and tones are clearly indicated with some racial epithets and even a same-sex reference.

This is not an easy or “feel good” read. This book is definitely unlike any I have read. Fullerton’s writing is very descriptive and vivid while also very thought-provoking. It definitely took time to get into this book, despite the short length of the novel.

Imposing mansion on front begs the question – haunted or what? But, as it turns out, it is Celia’s Como, Mississippi home where memories of “Little Tea” are.

The title of the novel refers to the nickname of a childhood friend of the main character/narrator of the story – Celia. It is this friend, Thelonia – “Little Tea”, that becomes a huge part of Celia’s and her story.

The two meet at age 10 as Little Tea’s father, Thelonius, works the grounds of Celia’s family plantation – or rather farm as it is now called. The friendship broke racial barriers in the 1980’s.

Told in first person POV by Celia, “Little Tea” is a dual timeline story that starts in present day with Celia heading to Memphis/Arkansas to help Renny intervene with their mutual friend, Ava, who is having a crisis. All three are in their late 40’s and have been friends since high school. One thing that Ava mentions is that happiness is individual, something different for everyone.

One of Ava’s issues is her marriage – and to complicate things, her ex-boyfriend comes back. He isn’t the only one and Celia is forced to also reconcile a painful past. This past isn’t totally resolved by the end of the book or fully explained as to what got them where they were.

The characters are intricately written and deeply flawed – and while there was a lot of narrative about Celia and her relationship with Little Tea, there was not nearly enough about Renny.

Fullerton crafts very diverse characters, deep friendships, southern traditions of keeping personal things personal. The author doesn’t shy away from racist notes, but confronts it, especially with Celia’s grandmother. Other subjects that Fullerton tackles are socioeconomic hierarchy, deep-seated inferiority complexes, letting go of the past, and sometimes trying to out-run it.

The plot is complex, skillfully crafted, with vivid detail – drama, infidelity, under-age drinking, and even a same-sex relationship. There was, for me, a bit too much narrative in the story though. Also, there were some terms that were written that I had not heard in the 1980’s – at least where I lived. I didn’t hear them until about 2014/2015. In addition, there were a lot of Southern references that some readers might not pick up on.

I enjoyed the dual timeline story, but I would’ve appreciated years being used for context as “sometime in the 1980’s” was a bit too general (ie: 1981 – 1989). Was it 1984, 1988, 1983? As I am close or nearly close to the characters’ ages, it would’ve provided some context as to the climate of the time.

Memphis (Tennessee) and Como (Mississippi) were mostly in the past; Heber Springs (Arkansas) was used for present day. There were no chapter numbers used. There is one choppy scene tradition during an incident in Memphis that connects to the present day without a cohesive transition.

There were some confusing parts. To reveal them would be spoilers. I can state that overall it was a beautiful read. I was still left wondering what happened at the end between Celia and Tate’s break-up.

For about 2/3 of the book, there were little to no Christian themes, the last 1/3 of the book relied on church and Christian themes, though they were not central to the plot. However, this is not listed as a “Christian” read, so readers should keep that in mind when wondering if they want to read it. It is; for the most part; a clean read with no real sex references or vulgar language.

The book does make one examine their own attitudes, lives, and perspective when it comes to racial relations in addition to how they deal with the individual situations in their lives.

Fans of the author, genre, or whose own past resonate with story might enjoy this. And, given the current climate it is definitely a book that should be read.

I enjoyed the southern charm of this tale. I can 100% relate to the life long friends that are characters carry throughout. I have had a few of those in my time, people that I will always know and love in my heart.
Claire’s writing is exquisite and she brings laughter snd wisdom as well as tears here and there.
The ending was intense and surpassed my expectations and I highly recommend this beauty.

Southern Fiction genre is new to me and I have quickly fallen in love with this style and subject matter of storytelling. It is a genre I love for its quirky and fun to read about characters that are full of sass, full of strong women with strong and unique personalities, strong friendships and deeply rooted family legacy stories in a setting I enjoy reading about. The dialogue is superb with the addition of the colloquialism, the story will immerse you into the story.

Claire Fullerton wrote a beautiful story set in two timelines. The current one telling the story of three friends – Remmy a veterinarian, Ava their flighty friend in marital distress and Celia from Malibu, California – told through Celia’s perspective. The other timeline picks up the story from the 1980’s that tells of Celia’s history set in Mississippi and alongside her best friend, Little Tea.

The portrayal of a very narrow minded southern culture that is cultivated within the lives of the people were eye opening to me. I loved how Fullerton addressed issues of friendship, love, marriage and second chances. The story was well written, had beautifully developed strong and unique characters that I loved reading about. This was a truly enjoyable Southern Fiction, Women’s Fiction and Domestic Drama novel.

I received an ARC copy of this novel, pre-release, from the author, which I freely chose to review. This has in no way affected my opinion.
I have never read any of the author’s previous books, but I’ve read many positive reviews, and I couldn’t let the opportunity of reading this novel pass me by, especially because of the setting of the story in the American South, as I’m a fan of Southern literature.
The story centres on Celia Wakefield from old Southern Mississippi stock whose family has a cotton farm (no longer called cotton plantations) although now they spend most of their time in the city, Memphis. She is the narrator of the story (in the first person), and a phone call from one of her best friends (Renny, Ava and her became friends in college and have remained in touch through the years, even though now they all live far away and don’t see each other as much as they’d like) sets the action in motion. The three friends reunite to help Ava, who is facing a family crisis. At Renny’s lake house, in Arkansas, they renew their friendship, talk about life, and can’t help but remember the past. As a consequence, the chapters alternate, some set in the present and others in the 1980s when Celia was a young girl. We learn about Little Tea, Celia’s friend, the daughter of an African-American family who’d always lived in the Wakefield’s farm and worked there. She is determined, a great runner, and one of Celia’s brothers becomes her trainer and encourages her to explore her opportunities. But this is the Deep South, and old social rules and mores still apply, especially when it comes to race. The story builds up slowly, and the present struggles Ava is going through in her relationship highlight not only the different approaches and personalities of the three women, but also how the past influences our decisions and our take on life.
The novel deals with many themes: friendship (and the relationship between the three women feels genuine. There are the shared jokes, the strong bonds, the understanding without saying a word, and also the willingness to leave everything and do an intervention to help a friend in need, even if the other women might not agree with her behaviour), first love, family relationships, memory and the past (can we truly run away from it?), identity and family tradition (how much should we sacrifice to keep the family’s reputation intact? Can we choose who we are and break complete free from our family roots?), race relations, tragedy and mourning among others. Although we see all of this through Celia’s eyes and reflections, the separate timelines and her own hindsight allows us to read between the lines and to perceive things than young Celia wasn’t aware of (or tried not to see). This is achieved in very subtle ways, and although the sphere of the story feels quite intimate and domestic, some the themes it discusses are neither lightweight not easy.
Fullerton creates a varied palette of characters, and I think most readers are likely to identify with one of the three friends (personally, I think I’d get on with Renny best of all, the determined and practical one), who fit in well together because they are quite different but compatible. Little Tea and her family (to a lesser extent) are wonderful characters, and Celia’s family is made up of a variety of personalities and individuals, some likeable and some not, some larger than life, and others quite nasty, but they all are fully achieved and, like them or not, come to life in the story. There are others (Tate, Mark, and some of the other young men in the story, relatives…), and although we learn less about them, we still get to see them from Celia’s perspective and they play their part, both in the past and in the present. I kept thinking about Tennessee Williams and some of his more memorable characters as I read this novel. His mastery at depicting Southern family life and stripping it back to the bone in his plays is something Fullerton also excels at, although her approach is a more understated.
I know some readers don’t appreciate stories written in the first-person, and I seem to be reading plenty of these at the moment, but the writing is beautiful, lyrical, and it makes readers experience everything, from the heat to the excitement of the first love, and from the smell of the food to the disappointment and pain when life takes an unexpected and cruel turn. The story is preciously observed and told, and it will not suit impatient readers who prefer matter-of-fact writing, with only the most basic descriptions strictly necessary to help move the story forward and short sentences that rarely meander along. There are also plenty of airy and fun moments, especially when the friends are joking and having fun, and those allow readers to have a bit of a break from the most intense and soul-searching parts of the story. The author also uses Southern expressions and vernacular to good effect and this adds to the atmosphere of the novel. I have highlighted plenty of the text, and it’s difficult to choose a sample, but I’ll try (remember that I had access to an ARC copy and the final text might have undergone some minor changes):
Nostalgia has selective memory; it softens the heart and strips the details to leave you with what should have been instead of what was.
Combined, we were a girl complete. Separately, we were inchoate and in need of each other, like solitary pieces of a clock that were useless until assembled, but once assembled, kept perfect time.
Happiness seemed to me to be little more than intermittent highlights that faded to memory like the light of a burned-out star. And what’s more, in the times I thought I had happiness by the handle, I discovered that, all along, there were subterranean forces plotting to tell the rest of the story.
I don’t want to discuss the ending in detail, because I want to avoid spoilers, although there is a big twist at the end. I saw it coming, and I wasn’t particularly convinced by it (in my opinion it would have worked fine for a short story but not so much here), but many readers have liked it and it does not detract from the rest of the novel.
In summary, this is a novel beautifully written and observed, and I’d recommend it to readers who are looking for stories with complex female characters, especially those who love stories set in the South, and to fans of Southern writers such as William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams, although Fullerton has a lightness of touch that is all her own. A great author to follow, and one I hope to read again in the future.

When the three friends meet again to help one decide what to do with the next chapter in her life, a lot of old memories are brought out. Southern charm at its best!

Set at Greer’s Ferry Lake in Heber Springs, Arkansas, Little Tea is about the bonds of female friendships that have lasted through the ages; coming home, and coming to terms with aspects of Southern culture.

Claire Fullerton sets the stage when three childhood friends reunite after a decade of separation.

The friends’ reunion is laced with childhood memories, as narrator Celia Wakefield is given cause to reflect on her coming-of-age, on her family’s 3rd generation farm in Como, Mississippi. In the midst of long-ingrained cultural beliefs about the racial divide in the Deep South, readers are swept into a family saga impacted by society’s opinion of her close friendship with the spirited Thelonia, who goes by the nickname, Little Tea.

Readers of women’s fiction and Southern fiction will find Little Tea thoroughly engrossing and satisfyingly unpredictable, as each character undertakes an emotional journey that is captured with lyrical, lilting attention to detail.

Little Tea is the story of the ties that bind during changing times and the bravery it takes to move forward.