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.

CeeCee is an old soul trapped in the body of an incredible twelve year old girl. For years she’s been left to take care of her psychotic mother while her father “travels.” When her mother suddenly dies after being hit by a truck she’s overwhelmed by just how alone she truly is. That is, until her previously unknown Aunt Tootie whisks her away into a world of women she never knew could exist previously. Surrounded by strong caring women, CeeCee is haunted by her feelings toward her own mother and struggles to move forward from her troubled past. A story of love, the South and making peace with the past.

Oh how I absolutely adore Saving CeeCee Honeycutt! So, maybe it isn’t technically “Chick Lit” in the truest sense of the term, but without a doubt it has everything to do with women. About what it means to depend on other women and how we can all band together to find comfort and peace. Also, what it can mean when a woman lets you down and how it can turn you into someone you don’t know, especially when it’s your mother. Without a doubt, it was the women of the story who made me fall in love with the book from CeeCee of course to her Aunt “Tootie” and absolutely Oletta. Not only that, but even the women who made CeeCee’s life hard were incredible to me, her mother in particular.

Now, first and foremost I believe this is a story about love. It’s the driving force behind so much good in this world as well as much of the heartache and loss. In CeeCee’s life it begins as an ache, as something so unbelievably difficult to understand. Why? Because that’s what happens when your mother is psychotic and you are left to fend for yourself for the first twelve years of life. Imagine never feeling truly loved by a parent though your own mother is “present” in your daily life. Feeling as though you are the parent and your mother is the child. It was heart-wrenching to watch CeeCee struggle with such grown-up issues. And sadly in a way, I felt some joy at the fact her mother had died, but an undercurrent of sadness as well. CeeCee’s guilt and mixed emotions surrounding her mother’s death become the backdrop to all of her future relationships. Though she moves away, finds new friends, you can see that she’s always struggling to move beyond those feelings. Most of all CeeCee is learning how to truly love someone without reservations and without fear, it’s absolutely beautiful.

What her future relationships do for her are nothing short of a miracle. To be surrounded by such goodness, love and support sounds so wonderful. In a way CeeCee’s friendships with Oletta, Aunt Tootie, Mrs. Odell and others are quite a lot like a book club I attend each month. I’m quite literally the youngest by almost 30 years. It’s absolutely delightful. The women in my bookclub remind me a lot of the women in CeeCee’s life, they are caring and watchful (a bit like mother hens), but still able to “tell it like it is.” Without a doubt my life would be completely different were it not for seeing these wonderful women regularly and I think the same could be said for CeeCee. There’s something about the nurturing she receives, like having four or five mothers there to take care of you like they were also your best friend. I loved it.

As for the story, I really couldn’t ask for much more. Of course the setting is my absolute favorite, the South. With it’s easy way of life, you could almost feel the breeze wafting across the porch while reading this and hear the sassy remarks as only can be stated in that uniquely Southern drawl. Much like Sarah Addison Allen’s books, I felt like I could literally eat my way through this book, it was just so wonderful. Just enough sadness and happiness to balance it quite nicely.

Without a doubt one of my favorite Southern fiction novels read to-date. Beth Hoffman’s writing is gorgeous and her characters come to life before your eyes. It’s hard not to fall in love with such a sweet twelve year old girl who’s spent most of her life caring for herself and her mother. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is a story that will stir your emotions, leave you heartbroken and then have you in tears from laughter. You simply must read this divine story of a young girl and the loving women who rescue her, you won’t regret it!

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