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Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

by Beth Hoffman

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt Cover

ISBN13: 9780670021390
ISBN10: 0670021393
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

#LINK<Read Beth Hoffman's blogs and other content on the Penguin Community.>#

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 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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Review:

"Hoffman's debut, a by-the-numbers Southern charmer, recounts 12-year-old Cecelia Rose Honeycutt's recovery from a childhood with her crazy mother, Camille, and cantankerous father, Carl, in 1960s Willoughby, Ohio. After former Southern beauty queen Camille is struck and killed by an ice cream truck, Carl hands over Cecelia to her great-aunt Tootie. Whisked off to a life of privilege in Savannah, Ga., Cecelia makes fast friends with Tootie's cook, Oletta, and gets to know the cadre of eccentric women who flit in and out of Tootie's house, among them racist town gossip Violene Hobbs and worldly, duplicitous Thelma Rae Goodpepper. Aunt Tootie herself is the epitome of goodness, and Oletta is a sage black woman. Unfortunately, any hint of trouble is nipped in the bud before it can provide narrative tension, and Hoffman toys with, but doesn't develop, the idea that Cecelia could inherit her mother's mental problems. Madness, neglect, racism and snobbery slink in the background, but Hoffman remains locked on the sugary promise of a new day." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
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About the Author

Beth Hoffman was president and co-owner of a major interior design studio in Cincinnati, Ohio, before selling her business to write full time.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 7 comments:
McGuffy Ann, May 25, 2011 (view all comments by McGuffy Ann)
CeeCee Honeycutt is most certainly worth saving. She is wise beyond her twelve years, because she has had to be. Her mother is lost in the past, while her detached father travels for work. CeeCee’s only friend is her elderly neighbor Mrs. Odell, who truly cares for CeeCee.

Inevitably a tragedy occurs, upsetting CeeCee’s already precarious world. It is decided for her that she must go live with Great Aunt Tootie, whom is unknown to CeeCee. It is understandably difficult for CeeCee to leave the only life she has known, however isolated. Aunt Tootie’s world is one of perfumed prosperity, proper manners and possibilities.

Suddenly CeeCee is immersed in a busy world full of strong women. Aunt Tootie is an active pillar of the community. Oletta is her wise housekeeper. CeeCee also comes to know the very unique and exotic neighbor Thelma, and the wildly busy-body neighbor Violene. Through each very different woman, CeeCee learns valuable lessons about the various kinds of love, but also about acceptance. Finally, CeeCee finds a place where she not only belongs, but one where she is safe.

This wise and wonderful book is full of strong Southern women. It is a testament to how they nurture each other, generation to generation. It is a gift to all women, honouring the beauty of friendship and all that is female.

I am thankful to have met CeeCee and her world of wonderful women. I am even more thankful for Beth Hoffman.
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sallyann, November 19, 2010 (view all comments by sallyann)
People is wise ‘cause they get out in the world and live. Wisdom comes from experience—from knowin’each day a is gift and accepting it with gladness. -----But ain’t no book in the world gonna make you wise.
Beth Hoffman has written a feel good story that has a delightful cast of characters amid the loss of a mother in mind and then body.
CeCe is a smart 12 year old and by today’s definition was abused as a child and her mother is nuts in a fuuny sad way. Her mother, Camille, is a Georgia belle rotting in the cold of Willoughby Ohio and keeps reliving her glory days as an Onion Queen. The father is unable to cope with his wife’s illness or CeCe so he becomes mostly.. absent. This all takes place in the 1960’s.
As her mother’s illness results in her death, CeCe goes to Savannah, Ga to live with her wealthy great, great aunt Tootie Caldwell. and her household help Oletta Jones. This is where the fun and adventures begin.
I am not sure why anyone lumps this book together with THE HELP except they are both in the South in 1960. It is more poor girl to rich girl with the good and evil witches along for the ride. Once you meet Violene and Thelma, that is all you need to fully enjoy this book complete with a cat fight at a posh garden party.
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ccqdesigns, September 5, 2010 (view all comments by ccqdesigns)
This book is sweet as honey and everything is sunshine. If you want a realistic portrayal of us Southerners, this isn't it. But, if you want a nice easy breezy light read with lots of feel good, this will fit the bill perfectly. Frankly, I like my fiction with a little more substance and reality. No one can be this sweet for this long. What this book does have is a picture of southern hospitality, the strength of southern women, and a good description of southern settings. The author has a nice sense of style and easy readability. Now if she would just add a dose of believability I might be more inclined to read her next novel.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780670021390
Subtitle:
A Novel
Author:
Hoffman, Beth
Author:
Hoffman, Beth
Publisher:
Pamela Dorman Books
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Domestic fiction
Subject:
Teenage girls
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Copyright:
2010
Edition Description:
B-Hardcover
Publication Date:
20100112
Binding:
Hardback
Grade Level:
from 12
Language:
English
Pages:
320
Dimensions:
8.64x5.80x1.17 in. .98 lbs.
Age Level:
17-17
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Related Subjects

Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt Used Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$12.50 In Stock
Product details 320 pages Viking Books - English 9780670021390 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "Hoffman's debut, a by-the-numbers Southern charmer, recounts 12-year-old Cecelia Rose Honeycutt's recovery from a childhood with her crazy mother, Camille, and cantankerous father, Carl, in 1960s Willoughby, Ohio. After former Southern beauty queen Camille is struck and killed by an ice cream truck, Carl hands over Cecelia to her great-aunt Tootie. Whisked off to a life of privilege in Savannah, Ga., Cecelia makes fast friends with Tootie's cook, Oletta, and gets to know the cadre of eccentric women who flit in and out of Tootie's house, among them racist town gossip Violene Hobbs and worldly, duplicitous Thelma Rae Goodpepper. Aunt Tootie herself is the epitome of goodness, and Oletta is a sage black woman. Unfortunately, any hint of trouble is nipped in the bud before it can provide narrative tension, and Hoffman toys with, but doesn't develop, the idea that Cecelia could inherit her mother's mental problems. Madness, neglect, racism and snobbery slink in the background, but Hoffman remains locked on the sugary promise of a new day." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
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