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Steel Magnolias meets The Help in this Southern debut novel sparkling with humor, heart, and feminine wisdom
Twelve-year-old CeeCee Honeycutt is in trouble. For years, she has been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille-the tiara-toting, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town-a woman trapped in her long-ago … an entire town-a woman trapped in her long-ago moment of glory as the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen. But when Camille is hit by a truck and killed, CeeCee is left to fend for herself. To the rescue comes her previously unknown great-aunt, Tootie Caldwell.
In her vintage Packard convertible, Tootie whisks CeeCee away to Savannah’s perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricity, a world that seems to be run entirely by women. From the exotic Miz Thelma Rae Goodpepper, who bathes in her backyard bathtub and uses garden slugs as her secret weapons, to Tootie’s all-knowing housekeeper, Oletta Jones, to Violene Hobbs, who entertains a local police officer in her canary-yellow peignoir, the women of Gaston Street keep CeeCee entertained and enthralled for an entire summer.
Laugh-out-loud funny and deeply touching, Beth Hoffman’s sparkling debut is, as Kristin Hannah says, “packed full of Southern charm, strong women, wacky humor, and good old-fashioned heart.” It is a novel that explores the indomitable strengths of female friendship and gives us the story of a young girl who loses one mother and finds many others.
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Loved it.
Great Brain Candy.
This was fun to read but very predictable. The characters were interesting and well developed.
Very enjoyable summer read! Love the main setting!
Sweet story about a preteen girl and the life she was given.
A delightful book.
My favorite book of all times! A feel good book
CeeCee has a difficult childhood , as her dad left and her mother lives in a fantasy land. CeeCee tells the story and she has a bright outlook on life. This is a heartwarming book, which
I’ve read three times.
Beautiful
Very well-told story. Not a lot of surprises, but heart-warming and the promise of the title is fulfilled. In some ways it’s like a Lifetime movie where all the women are strong and confident and all the men are either jerks or set dressing, but the story is about the women so it seems fair enough. I believe I will read this at least once every couple of years just to revisit the wonderful world that exists in there.
Wonderful characters in a beautiful setting
Not real deep but a great read. Wonderful characters.
Delightful read!
warm, great charectors
A fun story. At times quite thought provoking and sad.
A reread for me, but wonderful both times.
CeeCee is a young girl of about 8 when we are fist introduced to her. She loves her mother but her father has little to do with her. It is quickly proven her mother has some sort of mental issues going on. By the time CeeCee is 12, her mother is detached from reality, focused on her 1951 run as Vidalia Onion Queen, and buying prom and pageant dresses from Goodwill. Her father travels for work and comes home less and less. One afternoon her mom has gone to the Goodwill and it just so happens her dad is home when it is learned that CeeCee’s mom is no more.
CeeCee is sent to live with her great aunt Tootie in Savannah, Georgia. There, CeeCee finds the family she has always wanted between Aunt Tootie, Oleta (Aunt Tootie’s housekeeper), and eventually Mrs. Odell (who was her neighbor in Ohio).
Of course, this book has a few laugh out loud moments but they are brief. Over all, I never found a plot in this story. I just seemed to be a 12 year old finding her way. I kept reading waiting for the ah ha moment that never came.
Enjoyed it. But some parts were predictable, but sometimes that is not all bad.
I have read IN THE COMPANY OF BEES also.
Loved this book! It gets better and better as you read!. The characters are great, too. They are something else–right out of the South! A charming, heart-warming story! You will love it, too!