“Why won’t you just tell me what’s in that cake?” I’d been trying to get Laine’s recipe for years. We all had. When all else fails, turn to the divine taste of hummingbird cake. In the South you always say “yes, ma’am” and “no, ma’am.” You know everybody’s business. Football is a lifestyle not a pastime. Food—especially dessert— is almost a religious experience. And you protect your friends as … dessert— is almost a religious experience. And you protect your friends as fiercely as you protect your family— even if the threat is something you cannot see.
In this spot-on Southern novel brimming with wit and authenticity, you’ll laugh alongside lifelong friends, navigate the sometimes rocky path of marriage, and roll through the outrageous curveballs that life sometimes throws . . . from devastating pain to absolute joy. And if you’re lucky, you just may discover the secret to hummingbird cake along the way.
more
What a beautiful story! I laughed and cried, thinking how authentic the emotions are! Then I learned that this story was based on true events which endures the story to my heart!
This is the best book I have read in a very long time!! I am telling everyone I know who reads this is a must have. I hated to see it end.
It was wonderful. It’s a story of true friendship. I wanted to be friends with the characters in this book. Hated to have it end.
This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. It is sad and inspirational at the same time. I highly recommend this book to anyone but especially to people who love books written about living in the South.
Made me laugh and cry! I’ve got friends like that so I can relate!
A fun book never knowing what will happen next among three best friends.
Good book that will make you think about the value of true friendship.
Loved it!
At first, I couldn’t stand the “heroine”- by the end, I loved her. This is wonderful story telling- you will go from tears to laughter and back gain. Beautifully written.
Best friends. Real life. Great book. Thank you.
not really very good
I received this book for an honest review from the Fiction Guild. I very much enjoyed this book. When you have 3 close friends that have grown up together to very different women but still close all the same that two of them live across the street from each other. Each of them have had problems but they have been there for each other. One couple are having problems in their marriage, the other’s is doing ok, and the third friends is still single but she loves being a teacher and working with the kids at the church bible camp. Then things come to a head when the single friend finds out she has cancer and is dying and doesn’t want treatment. The girls rally again to help take care of her and see her through all of her wishes. But within that time Laine wants to go in a dignified way. She finally tells her friends that she had been in love once but gave him up to he could be with his family. Well she finally agrees to see him again before she dies. It is a wonderful story about close friendship, beliefs in God and the overcoming of all difficulties that each of us has to deal with.
“The Secret to Hummingbird Cake” (Thomas Nelson, 2016) by emerging Southern author Celeste Fletcher McHale manages to do a very difficult thing: It spins a loving tale about enduring female friendships in a small town in the Deep South without engaging in stereotypes or sentimentality. Replete with the poignancy of Same Sweet Girls, the very human humor of The Devine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood, and the grace and faith of Jan Karon’s Mitford/Father Tim series, Hummingbird Cake is a compelling debut novel. Despite this comparison other Southern gems, make no mistake: “Hummingbird Cake” is its own book, not a recast or imitation, and it rings fresh and true.
This is the best book I have read in years…and I read a lot !!!’
Great book seemed slow at first and I wondered were it was going when suddenly there was a turn of events that changed everyone. Full of surprises, laughs and tons of tears. I really enjoyed this story.
Language not appropriate for Christian reading.
Great book about friends and how much they love one another.
I enjoyed this book. Had to read it in a hurry and still think about the characters and story-line. I will read it again soon.
Did not finish. Not my type of book.
Did not really enjoy it!!!!!!!!!!!