Author : Beth Hoffman
Rating : 4
Characters : CeeCee Honeycutt, our narrator, was twelve years old when her mentally disturbed mother darted out into the street, directly in front of a truck. Mrs. Odell is a kindly, elderly next door neighbor who reached out to twelve year old CeeCee, having her over for Sunday breakfast. Great Aunt Tootie is a round, little, and entirely impeccable woman who shows up to be CeeCee’s guardian angel. Oletta is Tootie’s lovely cook and there ain’t nothin’ a bowl of her hot oatmeal won’t cure. The beautiful, independent Miss Goodpepper, and her extensive library, provide quite the allure. All these women, and one little girl.
Setting : Savanna, GA. Sometime in the seventies.
Basic Plot : CeeCee was trying her best to look after her deranged mother, but on the last day of school she found out she had died. Her practically non-existent father was very little help in this time of crisis and when CeeCee couldn’t handle real life she found solace in her books. (You can see why this appeals to me.) She had over 200 of them coming from library sales, ten for a dollar. Then, after the death, Aunt Tootie shows up, and though she missed her niece’s funeral, she is just in time to give her grand niece, CeeCee, the things she needs most: love, care, and joy of life. Stealing CeeCee away they travel to Tootie’s home town and there they meet some incredible and influential women, all of them a little crazy in their own ways. Each of them help CeeCee put the pieces of her shattered life back in place
Comments : This book is full of heart and kindness, but one thing is for sure, I bet not a lot of men out there would like it. Too girly I think. But the content is lovely and the reading is very quick. There is one funny moment where the ridiculous back yard neighbor comes out in her nighty and a strip tease is mentioned. The circumstances are pretty funny while CeeCee and Miss Goodpepper hide in the bushes and launch slugs. Nothing naughty happens, but there is an accident involving the slugs and a pair of yellow pom pom pumps. In reality there is little to no sex and violence in this book and as far as age appropriate I would put it at about reasonable 13 year old.
Similar : Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen (Susan Gregg Gilmore) // Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (Jamie Ford) // The Forgotten Garden: A Novel (Kate Morton)
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