This is a story about a woman whose tragic childhood haunts her even as an adult. At the age of 12 she was caring for a bipolar mother. She must deal with crisis situations because her traveling father is rarely there. She has no friends who can help, only an elderly neighbor. During one of these times
great Aunt Tootie appears and takes her to her Savannah home.
Savannah provide life where she meets strong, loving and sometimes eccentric women.
Intelligent, strong and courageous, she endures guilt and anger while harboring fears of abandonment. The most prominent issue is probably whether or not she will inherit mental illness like her mother. A girl who seeks solace in the books she reads, she gradually leaves behind all that happened as she begins her new life. This is a gentle uplifting story about a father who eventually recognizes what is happening to his daughter and an aunt who understands and provides what a damaged child needs to move beyond a tragic life.
This book is filled with so many flashbacks about characters I'm not invested in. I'm not really sure what the author was going for plot-wise. To me, this book seemed like a glimpse into many people's lives that were unrelated to the central plot. I felt as though I was being constantly tugged back and forth through time and then reminded I was reading a book full of pointless flashbacks. I'm not into books full of drama, but this was the opposite. Besides the central storyline of a little girl getting out of a bad situation and moving elsehwere, nothing much actually happened. There were so many side-tracks that I couldn't stay invested in the main character's plight, and by the end of the book didn't even care.
This is an excellent book in every way. I highly recommend it.
Well written. Full of life, from a life of sadness to healing and joy.
I laughed out loud several times reading this one. It has its tragic/serious moments also. Writing style reminded me of Fannie Flagg's books.
This book is a fresh breath of air straight from the elegant, laid-back, charming South. Cecelia Rose (CeeCee) Honeycutt lives in Ohio with a mentally ill mother and a traveling salesman father whos never home. At the age of 12, she carries the weight of the family on her tiny shoulders. But, when an accident takes her mother and her father lets her move to Savannah, Ga., to live with her Great Aunt Tootie Caldwell, CeeCee will meet a covey of strong, southern women and blossom into a confident young girl who discovers her place in the world. Its a cute book and the story is told with humor and empathy.
I received this book from a relative who loved it, however I struggled through it. The plot is fine, however the author distracts us from the current moment but incessant flashbacks about random characters that really aren't that interesting. It was a jarring read from front to back, and I found it difficult to be interested in the plot because the author was always taking me out of the moment and telling me to pay attention to some random tidbit instead. This book has turned me off to all books with flashbacks.
If you enjoy slow plots with lots of stories that don't contribute to the main story, then you might like this book. Someone compared this to To Kill A Mockingbird? Well, they're both set in the south and told from the POV of a young girl, but other than that, the similarities end.
Inspiring and touching.......an enjoyable read!
