Synopses & Reviews
A Southern novel of family and antiques from the bestselling author of the beloved Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
Beth Hoffmans bestselling debut, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, won admirers and acclaim with its heartwarming story and cast of unforgettable characters. Now her unique flair for evocative settings and richly drawn Southern personalities shines in her compelling new novel, Looking for Me.
Teddi Overman found her lifes passion for furniture in a broken-down chair left on the side of the road in rural Kentucky. She learns to turn other peoples castoffs into beautifully restored antiques, and eventually finds a way to open her own shop in Charleston. There, Teddi builds a life for herself as unexpected and quirky as the customers who visit her shop. Though Teddi is surrounded by remarkable friends and finds love in the most surprising way, nothing can alleviate the haunting uncertainty shes felt in the years since her brother Joshs mysterious disappearance. When signs emerge that Josh might still be alive, Teddi is drawn home to Kentucky. Its a journey that could help her come to terms with her shattered familyand to find herself at last. But first she must decide what to let go of and what to keep.
Looking for Me brilliantly melds together themes of family, hope, loss, and a mature once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. The result is a tremendously moving story that is destined to make bestselling author Beth Hoffman a novelist to whom readers will return again and again as they have with Adriana Trigiani, Fannie Flagg, and Joshilyn Jackson.
Review
"This book unfolds like a lush southern garden, blooming with vivid characters, beauty and surprises."
-Kim Edwards, bestselling author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter
"In Hoffman's charming debut, Cecelia Rose (CeeCee) Honeycutt tells the story of her tragic life and the strong women who stepped in to save her. At age 12, CeeCee realizes her mother, flouncing around Willoughby, OH, in prom dresses and matching shoes, is crazy and the town's laughingstock. Her father is never home, and nothing is going to change so CeeCee buries herself in books as an escape. But her true liberation comes after her mother's tragic death when great-aunt Tootie sweeps CeeCee off to Savannah. There, a group of powerful, independent women offer the young girl love, laughter and a new chance at life. Readers who enjoy strong female characters will appreciate CeeCee, a survivor despite her heartbreaking childhood, and Aunt Tootie and her friends, all of them steel magnolias. VERDICT Exemplifying Southern storytelling at its best, this coming-of-age novel is sure to be a hit with the book clubs that adopted Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees. Interestingly enough, both novels share the same editor."
-Library Journal
"'Welcome to my world, baby girl' (to paraphrase Fannie Flagg's title) is what came to my mind on meeting the narrator of Beth Hoffman's delightful debut, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt. Twelve-year-old CeeCee is a survivor. Alone too much, and with too much responsibility because of her psychotic mother, CeeCee is old beyond her years. When her mother dies, her mostly absent father sends her south from Ohio to Savannah under the care of her never-before-seen Great Aunt Tootie. The reader is introduced to a wide assortment of Southern women, each of whom plays a role in CeeCee's healing and coming to terms with her life. Each character also helps paint a detailed picture of the dichotomy between the 'old South' with its decaying gentry, and the changing South, where black and white are more than servant/mistress and white gloves are being exchanged for jeans and flip-flops. This lovely novel has earned the status of 'LizPick' even before it's published."
-Publishers Weekly, "Galley Talk" by Liz Murphy, the Learned Owl Book Show, Hudson, Ohio
Review
Praise for Beth Hoffman:
“Anyone in need of a Southern-girl-power fix will find [Saving CeeCee Honeycutt] engaging.”
—People
“A peach of a novel.”
—Ladies Home Journal
“SAVING CEECEE HONEYCUTT is an absolutely delightful debut novel packed full of Southern charm, strong women, wacky humor, and good old-fashioned heart. From the moment you first step into young CeeCee's unique world, you'll never want to leave.”
—Kristin Hannah, bestselling author of Home Front and Night Road
“This book unfolds like a lush southern garden, blooming with vivid characters, beauty, and surprises.”
—Kim Edwards, bestselling author of The Memory Keepers Daughter
“I barely stopped laughing, even as my heart broke and broke again for CeeCee . . . Beth Hoffman has written her heart out in this novel that will clearly be the first of many.” —Luanne Rice, bestselling author of Little Night and The Silver Boat
“Charming, disarming, sweet as the scent of magnolias on a Southern summer night.” —Mary Kay Andrews, bestselling author of Summer Rental and Spring Fever
“[A] Southern charmer.” —Publishers Weekly
“Exemplifying Southern storytelling at its best, this coming-of-age novel is sure to be a hit with the book clubs that adopted Sue Monk Kidds The Secret Life of Bees.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
Review
Praise for Looking for Me:
"Hoffman's novel of a woman putting the pieces of her family's secrets together combines a deep dramatic impact with Southern charm."
—Publishers Weekly
Praise for Saving CeeCee Honeycutt:
“Anyone in need of a Southern-girl-power fix will find [Saving CeeCee Honeycutt] engaging.”
—People
“A peach of a novel.”
—Ladies Home Journal
“SAVING CEECEE HONEYCUTT is an absolutely delightful debut novel packed full of Southern charm, strong women, wacky humor, and good old-fashioned heart. From the moment you first step into young CeeCee's unique world, you'll never want to leave.”
—Kristin Hannah, bestselling author of Home Front and Night Road
“This book unfolds like a lush southern garden, blooming with vivid characters, beauty, and surprises.”
—Kim Edwards, bestselling author of The Memory Keepers Daughter
“I barely stopped laughing, even as my heart broke and broke again for CeeCee . . . Beth Hoffman has written her heart out in this novel that will clearly be the first of many.” —Luanne Rice, bestselling author of Little Night and The Silver Boat
“Charming, disarming, sweet as the scent of magnolias on a Southern summer night.” —Mary Kay Andrews, bestselling author of Summer Rental and Spring Fever
“A Southern charmer.” —Publishers Weekly
“Exemplifying Southern storytelling at its best, this coming-of-age novel is sure to be a hit with the book clubs that adopted Sue Monk Kidds The Secret Life of Bees.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
Review
“Anyone in need of a southern-girl-power fix will find [
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt] engaging. And it offers an invaluable reminder: Even when things look bleak, a few good friends can turn your life around.”
—People
“A peach of a novel.”
—Ladies Home Journal
“CeeCee Honeycutt is a sweet, perceptive girl with a troubled family, and this story of the summer that transforms her life is rich with hard truths and charm. This book unfolds like a lush southern garden, blooming with vivid characters, beauty, and surprises.”
—Kim Edwards, bestselling author of The Memory Keepers Daughter
“An absolutely delightful debut novel packed full of Southern charm, strong women, wacky humor, and good old-fashioned heart. From the moment you first step into young CeeCees unique world, you'll never want to leave.”
—Kristin Hannah, bestselling author of Fly Away
“Reading Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, I barely stopped laughing, even as my heart broke and broke again for CeeCee. She goes through the wringer with Southern grace, but you never forget all shes lost, and you never lose sight of her courage and deep resources. Beth Hoffman has written her heart out in this novel that will clearly be the first of many.”
—Luanne Rice, bestselling author of The Lemon Orchard and Little Night
“A tender and touching debut. Charming, disarming, sweet as the scent of magnolias on a Southern summer night, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is a true delight.”
—Mary Kay Andrews, bestselling author of Ladies' Night
Review
“In this tender coming-of-age novel, McNeal brings to life a place, an era, and an amazing cast of strong, larger-than-life characters. Heartrending, captivating, and ultimately, triumphant.”
—Cassandra King, New York Times bestselling author of Moonrise
“McNeals Dollbaby is such an impressive debut—a powerful roux of family drama, long-simmering secrets and resentments, and ultimately, forgiveness and redemption. Deeply evocative, with memorable characters, Dollbaby belongs on the keeper shelf along with The Help and The Secret Life of Bees.”
—Mary Kay Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of Ladies' Night
“Deeply southern and evocative, Laura Lane McNeals beautifully written debut, Dollbaby, takes us back to a not-so-long ago time when we were learning to look through different eyes at the fabric of our society, race, youth and family."
—Susan Crandall, author of Whistling Past the Graveyard
"This flavorful and enthralling novel brilliantly captures New Orleans during the civil rights era. It's a deeply personal tale about growing up and searching for family as well as a provocative exploration of race and kinship. I found it both thrilling and poignant."
—Walter Isaacson, New York Times bestselling author of Steve Jobs
“A vivid portrayal of post-war New Orleans, lush and evocative in its descriptions, McNeals unique voice shines through surprising and pleasing the reader.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“A touching coming-of-age story that is sincere and poignant.”—Booklist
Review
"After turning the last page of
Queen Sugar, I already miss the gutsy, contemporary African American woman who ditches California and migrates to Louisiana to run her inherited cane farm. Natalie Baszile is a fresh, new voice that resists all Southern stereotypes, and delivers an authentic knock-out read."
—Lalita Tademy, New York Times bestselling author of Cane River and Red River
“Raw with hardship and tender with hope, Queen Sugar digs deep to the core of a courageous young widows life as she struggles to keep her farm in Louisianas sugarcane country. Natalie Baszile writes with a bold and steady hand.”
—Beth Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author of Looking for Me and Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
Synopsis
Steel Magnolias meets The Help in Beth Hoffmans New York Times bestselling Southern debut novel, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
Twelve-year-old CeeCee Honeycutt is in trouble. For years, she has been the caretaker of her mother, Camille, the towns tiara-wearing, lipstick-smeared laughingstock, a woman who is trapped in her long-ago moment of glory as the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen of Georgia. When tragedy strikes, Tootie Caldwell, CeeCees long-lost great-aunt, comes to the rescue and whisks her away to Savannah. There, CeeCee is catapulted into a perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricityone that appears to be run entirely by strong, wacky 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.
A timeless coming of age novel set in the 1960s, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt explores the indomitable strengths of female friendship, and charts the journey of an unforgettable girl who loses one mother, but finds many others in the storybook city of Savannah. As Kristin Hannah, author of Fly Away, says, Beth Hoffman's sparkling debut is packed full of Southern charm, strong women, wacky humor, and good old-fashioned heart."
Synopsis
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Steel Magnolias meets The Help in this Southern debut novel sparkling with humor, heart, and feminine wisdom.
Synopsis
A Southern novel of family and antiques from the bestselling author of the beloved Saving CeeCee Honeycutt Beth Hoffman’s sparkling bestselling debut Saving CeeCee Honeycutt won admirers and acclaim with its heartwarming story and cast of unforgettable characters. Now, she rekindles her flair for evocative Southern settings and the inimitable eccentrics in her compelling new novel, Looking for Me.
Teddi Overman found her life’s passion for furniture in a broken-down chair left on the side of the road in rural Kentucky. She learns to turn other people’s castoffs into beautifully restored antiques, and opens her own graciously-appointed shop in Charleston. Breathing new life into these discarded objects gives Teddi purpose, but has never alleviated the haunting uncertainty she’s felt in the years since her brother Josh’s mysterious disappearance. When signs emerge that Josh might still be alive, Teddi is drawn home to find him. It’s a journey that could help her come to terms with her shattered family—and to find herself at last.
Looking for Me is an unforgettable novel that is full of Hoffman’s signature heart and humor—and a grown-up love story to boot. It is destined to make her a bestselling novelist readers will want to read again and again as they have with Adriana Trigiani, Fannie Flagg, and Dorothea Benton Frank.
Synopsis
A Southern novel of family and antiques from the bestselling author of the beloved Saving CeeCee Honeycutt Beth Hoffman’s sparkling bestselling debut Saving CeeCee Honeycutt won admirers and acclaim with its heartwarming story and cast of unforgettable characters. Now, she rekindles her flair for evocative Southern settings and the inimitable eccentrics in her compelling new novel, Looking for Me.
Teddi Overman found her life’s passion for furniture in a broken-down chair left on the side of the road in rural Kentucky. She learns to turn other people’s castoffs into beautifully restored antiques, and opens her own graciously-appointed shop in Charleston. Breathing new life into these discarded objects gives Teddi purpose, but has never alleviated the haunting uncertainty she’s felt in the years since her brother Josh’s mysterious disappearance. When signs emerge that Josh might still be alive, Teddi is drawn home to find him. It’s a journey that could help her come to terms with her shattered family—and to find herself at last.
Looking for Me is an unforgettable novel that is full of Hoffman’s signature heart and humor—and a grown-up love story to boot. It is destined to make her a bestselling novelist readers will want to read again and again as they have with Adriana Trigiani, Fannie Flagg, and Dorothea Benton Frank.
Synopsis
A mother-daughter story of reinventionabout an African American woman who unexpectedly inherits a sugarcane farm in Louisiana Why exactly Charley Bordelons late father left her eight hundred sprawling acres of sugarcane land in rural Louisiana is as mysterious as it was generous. Recognizing this as a chance to start over, Charley and her eleven-year-old daughter, Micah, say good+bye to Los Angeles.
They arrive just in time for growing season but no amount of planning can prepare Charley for a Louisiana thats mired in the past: as her judgmental but big-hearted grandmother tells her, cane farming is always going to be a white mans business. As the sweltering summer unfolds, Charley must balance the overwhelming challenges of her farm with
Synopsis
A Top Ten Finalist for Best Historical Novel, Goodreads Choice Awards, and a LibraryReads and Okra Pick
A big-hearted coming-of-age debut set in civil rights-era New Orleansa novel of Southern eccentricity and secrets
When Ibby Bells father dies unexpectedly in the summer of 1964, her mother unceremoniously deposits Ibby with her eccentric grandmother Fannie and throws in her fathers urn for good measure. Fannies New Orleans house is like no place Ibby has ever beenand Fannie, who has a tendency to end up in the local asylumis like no one she has ever met. Fortunately, Fannies black cook, Queenie, and her smart-mouthed daughter, Dollbaby, take it upon themselves to initiate Ibby into the ways of the South, both its grand traditions and its darkest secrets.
For Fannies own family history is fraught with tragedy, hidden behind the closed rooms in her ornate Uptown mansion. It will take Ibbys arrival to begin to unlock the mysteries there. And it will take Queenie and Dollbabys hard-won wisdom to show Ibby that family can sometimes be found in the least expected places.
For fans of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt and The Help, Dollbaby brings to life the charm and unrest of 1960s New Orleans through the eyes of a young girl learning to understand race for the first time.
By turns uplifting and funny, poignant and full of verve, Dollbaby is a novel readers will take to their hearts.
About the Author
Beth Hoffman was the president and co-owner of an interior design studio in Cincinnati before becoming a full-time writer. Looking for Me is her second novel. Her debut, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, was a New York Times bestseller in hardcover and paperback. She lives with her husband and two cats in northern Kentucky.