Book Review – Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Twelve-year-old CeeCee is in trouble. For years she’s been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille— the crown-wearing, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town. Though it’s 1967 and they live in Ohio, Camille believes it’s 1951 and she’s just been crowned the Vidalia Onion Queen of Georgia.

The day CeeCee discovers Camille in the front yard wearing a tattered prom dress and tiara as she blows kisses to passing motorists, she knows her mother has completely flipped. When tragedy strikes, Tootie Caldwell, a previously unknown great-aunt comes to CeeCee’s rescue and whisks her away to Savannah. Within hours of her arrival, CeeCee is catapulted into a perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricities—a world that appears to be run entirely by women.

I love a good Southern Tale so was very excited when I saw the great reviews for this book and even more pleased when I found I could get it off Amazon.uk for my Kindle. I was hoping for something akin to one of my all time favourite books; The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood and I’m happy to say I wasn’t disappointed. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is a beautifully written story of a young girl coming to terms with a devastating amount of heartbreak with the help of a fantastic cast of strong Southern women.

The story is narrated by CeeCee herself, and I was absolutely drawn in by her character. CeeCee is only twelve when most of the action takes place and Hoffman seems to have captured perfectly the workings of her young mind. Due to her mother’s illness and father’s absence, CeeCee has assumed the role of responsible adult in the house and is incredibly mature for her age but this maturity is also mixed with the emotions and worries of a child which makes CeeCee strong and vulnerable at the same time and really does make for compelling reading.

As tragedy strikes, CeeCee finds herself in the care of her great aunt Tootie and enters a whole new world. Tootie is a wealthy and well respected citizen of Savannah and I loved CeeCee’s descriptions of her new home and neighbourhood which take on an almost magical element at times. In Savannah, CeeCee finds a brilliant supporting cast of feisty, quirky and strong women to help her come to terms with her heartbreak. Eccentric neighbour Thelma Rae Goodpepper and Tootie’s housekeeper Oletta were two of my personal favourites and I loved the way the relationship between Oletta and CeeCee developed.

The book is set in the late 1960′s and I think Hoffman has really captured the feel of the era, particularly with a sub-thread that highlights segregation and racism showing that CeeCee isn’t the only character embracing major change in her life. The story is in turns absolutely heartbreaking and laugh out loud funny and Hoffman does an excellent job of balancing the lighthearted and serious so that the outcome is a book that is uplifting not depressing.

This is the type of book I would turn to and read again if I was feeling down – I love the nuggets of wisdom, wise words and philosophies that the characters share throughout. I really hope that Beth decides to revisit CeeCee and the ladies of Savannah at some point in the future as I’d love to know what happens next and this book is ripe for a sequel (or even a series!).

5/5

You can find out more about Beth and her writing at: http://bethhoffman.net/home/