Ladies, Lunch, and Literacy Welcomes Beth Hoffman to Manhattan Beach

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

This book embarrassed me! I read it on a plane to New York City and I could not stop the tears from running down my face every 10 pages or so. I just hope the passengers on the seats next to me were paying as little attention to me as I was to them!

CeeCee Honeycutt grew up in a dysfunctional family in a small town in Ohio with a psychotic mother and an absent, alcoholic father until she was 12 years old and her mother is killed (I am not telling any secrets here … you know this by the second sentence.) When her great-aunt Tootie shows up to take her home with her to Savannah, Georgia, CeeCee knows her life will never be the same … and much of that is a good thing, except that she doesn’t realize it at the time.

CeeCee arrives at Tootie’s gracious home in Savannah and is immediately swept into a world of southern grace and style … one that seems to be populated exclusively by eccentric women. Small bits of southern wisdom and down-to-earth traditions sprinkle this story of CeeCee’s journey from a lost childhood to a wonderful new life surrounded by her new southern family. Hoffman’s sensitive treatment of dealing with grief and living life on one’s own terms was inspired and inspirational. Like some of the life lessons learned from these engaging women, this book is a gem.