SYNOPSIS
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 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.
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.
FAVORITE QUOTES
"Northerners are exactly like their weather - cold and boring."
"I think she was just happy to have woken up on the top side of earth."
"What I don't understand is why people get all dressed up and drive to church so they can sit there are get scolded. Seems to me, it'd be a whole lot easier for them to just stay home in their pj's, eat pancakes, and get yelled at over the radio."
"I made a mental note that if I ever needed help from a man, I would make him a pie. I wondered if that's why my dad didn't come home much anymore. As far as I know, Momma never once had baked him a pie."
"Life is full of change, honey. That's how we learn and grow. When we're born, the Good Lord gives us a Life Book. Chapter by chapter, we live and learn."
"Do something too often and it stops being special."
"I've learned the more we talk about things the better we feel. I talk about everything, and I know that's one of the reasons why I never so much as catch a cold."
"When a chapter of your Life Book is complete, your spirit knows its time to turn the page so a new chapter can begin. Even when you're scared or think you're not ready, your spirit knows you are."
"Forgiveness has a whole lot more to do with the person doing the forgiving than it does with the person in need of forgiveness."
"Holding hurt and anger makes about as much sense as hitting your head with a hammer and expecting the other person to get a headache."
"Lawd you're white. But if you've gotta be here, then sit in the shade so you don't hurt my eyes."
"Friends should cherish the good and pretend not to notice the harmless rest."
"I find all men to be very much like high-heeled shoes - I love how pretty they make me feel, but by the end of the night, I can't wait to get rid of them."
"Happy and plump as a July toad."
"Today's the day - you've got to reclaim your power."
"Don't grow up too fast darling. Age is inevitable, but if you nurture a childlike heart, you'll never grow old."
"It's what we believe about ourselves that determines how others see us."
"If you want to glow like you are lit from within, wear pearls and a pink pale sweater."
"Oysters are a lot like women. It's how we survive the hurts in life that brings us strength and gives us our beauty."
"Wisdom comes from experience - from knowin' each day is a gift and accepting it with gladness."
"Take the gift you are givin' and hold on tight. Don't go wastin' all them bright tomorrows you ain't even seen by hangin' on to wait happened yesterday."
"Southerners have a way of doing things to make you feel special."
"You can haul the girl out of the trash, but you can never haul the trash out of the girl"
RATING - 5 STARS
Thank you so much for reading my novel and your lovely review. I'm grateful for your kind words and tickled that my book earned a 5-star review!
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