Book Review: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Book Title: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt: a novel

Author: Beth Hoffman

Genre:  Literary Fiction

ISBN: 978-0-670-02139-0

Pages: 306

Source: Local Library

A quick look at the story:

The book is set in the year 1962. Cecilia aka CeeCee is a 12 year old girl living in a small town in Ohio called Willoughby. She has spent most of her childhood taking care of her psychotic mother, Camille while her dad has conveniently chosen the easier path and kept himself away from his family on the pretext of his sales job. One day when Camille dies in an accident, CeeCee's great aunt Tootie arrives and takes her home with her to Savannah, Georgia. The rest of the story is about how CeeCee thrives in an atmosphere filled with people (read as: Aunt Tootie, her housekeeper Oletta and Mrs Odell) who genuinely care for her and shower her with love and affection. 

My Thoughts:


I picked this book from my library after reading rave reviews about it by almost everybody in the blogging world. And I have to agree the book did not disappoint me one bit. Now who doesn't love a nice, feel-good story...  I really really liked it!! 

I agree the story is kind of predictable and does not have much of a surprise element to it but what kept me hooked on to the book was the attention to detail by the author. I loved the way Beth Hoffman has talked about and described each and every character in her story however small their role is, be it the nosey-Miss Hobbs whom everybody detests or the sweet Miss Obee who sneaks marbles in her dress. She has also portrayed relationships beautifully, such as the friendship between Lucia and Rosa Hoffman, the unspoken mother-daughter affection between Oletta and CeeCee.  In addition, Beth Hoffman has also addressed the key issues that existed in the American society at that time such as, racial discrimination, deforestation and protection of one's heritage, in a very subtle way. 

The book has lot of instances wherein Aunt Tootie and Oletta try and instill self-confidence in CeeCee but below, I have mentioned one particular line from the book which distinctly stood out for me:

My aunt's face was so serious I couldn't imagine what she was going to say. She took hold of my hand and looked into my eyes. "It's what we believe about ourselves that determines how others see us." (p.249)

All in all, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is a heartwarming story and is highly recommended by me both for book clubs as well as for individual book readers. And oh...did I tell you that this book fully justifies the usage of the phrase "Southern Hospitality" !!!

I am already eagerly awaiting Hoffman's next book... In case you are interested, here's the link to her website: http://bethhoffman.net.

Did you get a chance to read this book? Please do feel free to let me know of your thoughts on this book as well as my review...

My take on this book: Highly recommended. Period.

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Book Review: The Blue Notebook

Book Title: The Blue Notebook

Author: James A. Levine

Genre: Literary Fiction

ISBN: 978-0-385-52871-9

Pages: 206

Source: Local Library

My Thoughts:

I picked this book after a I read its review at my friend Ramya's blog. Let me warn you at the outset that this book is a very powerful and disturbing read!! It gives you a peek into the life of a 15 year old child prostitute, Batuk, who lives in the city of Bombay in India.

 The book describes various incidents from Batuk's childhood-her happy times with her family and also talks about the circumstances which led to her being sold at the tender age of 9, to an "Uncle" in Bombay  by her own dad. The story then goes on to talk about Batuk's life in Bombay between the ages of 9 and 15.  

An interesting aspect about this book is that it is written in 1st-person narrative, unlike most books/articles on such topics, wherein the author gives us a 3rd-person view of the situation. The 1st-person narration lets you have a look into the protagonist's day-to-day life as is, without it being clouded with too much of sentiments and emotions. Also, since the book is written from the perspective of Batuk, who is a smart young girl with basic schooling, there is a lot of innocence in her language but at the same time her experiences in life has given her a maturity which far surpasses her age!! It shows you how resilient and adaptable we humans are. For example, in the book, Batuk equates the act of having sex with her clients to that of baking a cake - she says, timing is very important to obtain a cake of the right consistency!

Overall, this story is not an easy read and has graphic and violent descriptions of sexual scenes!! But eventually, when you do finish reading the book, the brutality of the entire child-prostitution scenario will hit you hard and will make you more aware of whats happening in the world around us!!!

My take on this book: It is a recommended read for adults with a strong-heart...

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