Monday, February 21, 2011

Review: Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt: A NovelSaving CeeCee Honeycutt: A Novel by Beth Hoffman is the charming story of a young girl, Cee Cee Honeycutt,  and the second chance she is given at a real childhood by her Aunt Tootie and the cast of characters from their Savannah neighborhood.  Pre-teen Cee Cee lived with her mother in Ohio and tried to manage despite her mother's mental illness and her preoccupation with her days as a Southern beauty queen.  Cee Cee's mortification at much of her Mom's behavior is made all the more poignant by her very evident love for her mother.  When her Mom dies unexpectedly and her father, absent even before her mother's death, makes it clear he cannot care for his young daughter, Aunt Tootie arrives from Savannah and takes Cee Cee home with her.

Cee Cee enters an entirely new world when she arrives in Savannah - she meets Tootie's eccentric neighbors and friends and her Aunt's housekeeper, Oletta.  Each of these women take special care of Cee Cee and provide her with excellent models of strong (if a little crazy at times) women.  With time, Cee Cee is able to shed the shroud under which she has lived while dealing with her mother's mental illness, her father's indifference to her and ultimately the loss of her mother.  It is inspiring to see her blossom under the care of these southern women.

Author Beth Hoffman has created a lovely cast of characters in this novel which reminded me a bit of "Steel Magnolias".   It is a wonderful read and one I did not want to see end - I wanted to enjoy more of the adventures of these women and see Cee Cee continue to flourish under their care.  I can't wait to see what the author has in store for us in new novels!

12 comments:

  1. I so loved this book and recommend it highly to anyone who has not had the opportunity to read it yet!

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  2. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed this one because I know I sure did!

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  3. Hi Colleen,

    I just got home from 4 days of book events in Savannah and was surprised and delighted to see your review! Thanks so much for reading CeeCee's story and for your wonderful words of praise!

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  4. I loved this book and all the strong women in it!

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  5. This book rocked my socks off - I loved it! So glad you did too!

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  6. I need to get this book off my shelf and read it already!

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  7. I loved this story as well. The cover was awesome as well.

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  8. Sounds great -- I'm in the mood for something hopeful, now that spring is closing in!

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  9. Your review makes me want to read this book. I loved Steel Magnolias.

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  10. This was one of my faves last year! Cee Cee is almost as sweet at the author :)

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  11. I loved this book, too. It made my best of 2010 list.

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  12. Hi just popping by to say hello & invite you to visit The Parrish Lantern to share some poetry,Thanks.

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