March 11, 2013
Hoffman’s follow-up to Saving CeeCee Honeycutt presents her fans with a delightful character piece for a lazy day. Upon graduating from high school, Theodora “Teddi” Overman leaves her childhood home in rural Kentucky to pursue her passion for restoring old furniture. Her decision strains an already fragile relationship with her mother, but Teddi is content with the life she makes for herself in her Charleston antiques shop. One item from her past, however, continues to haunt her: the still-unexplained disappearance of her brother, Josh. When Teddi’s mother dies after an unexpected stroke, clues start to emerge that Josh has been alive all these years, and Teddi must confront her painful memories anew. On a trip back home, Teddi returns to Red River Gorge, the beautiful, secluded area where her brother was last seen. Though readers may question certain plot turns, these less plausible moments won’t detract too much from the enjoyment to be found in Teddi’s story. Hoffman’s novel of a woman putting the pieces of her family’s secrets together combines a deep dramatic impact with Southern charm. Agent: Catherine Drayton, Inkwell Management.
April 1, 2013
Self-taught furniture restorer and successful business owner Teddi Overman has built a good life. Yet a mystery from her past lingers. Raised in Kentucky, Teddi had an idyllic, if offbeat childhood. Her controlling mother, Franny, discounted her ability to transform junk into art, even after Teddi's faux-finished bedside table earned her $100 and an invitation to visit an antiques dealer in Charleston. Franny instead bought Teddi a typewriter as a graduation gift and pushed her to go to secretarial school. Teddi's father, silent and supportive, gave her a car and a map: her tickets to freedom. Josh--Teddi's younger brother, a gifted naturalist and possible vigilante--gave her a horned owl's feather and wished her luck. But then Teddi broke her mother's heart, her father died, and Josh disappeared. Burying herself in her work, Teddi relies on her quirky collection of friends and foes. Mr. Palmer, the owner of the Charleston antiques store, gives Teddi her first chance and introduces her to Albert, a brilliant furniture repairer. Olivia, a rare books conservationist and Teddi's best friend, meets her in the cemetery for emergency confidences over lunch. Tedra and Preston Calhoun help her negotiate the world of bank loans with distinct Southern charm. And then there's Miz Tula Jane Poteet: a nice but forgetful little old lady or a kleptomaniac? Of course, her lawyer son eagerly pays for all of Tula Jane's "purchases," but he just as eagerly cuts short every conversation with Teddi. Just as love begins to nudge at the edges of Teddi's life, she is forced to reckon with Josh's disappearance and her mother's dashed expectations. Hoffman's (Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, 2010) sophomore novel confusingly mingles a charming Southern-girl romance with a weighty mystery. The romance resolves predictably, yet the mystery leaves far too many loose threads.
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May 1, 2013
Theodora Teddie Overman runs a successful antiques shop, filling her days with restoration projects and buying trips. But she's having a hard time filling the hole in her heart left by her younger brother, who ran away from home and disappeared at age 17now presumed deadto live in the wilderness. Teddie was never close to her family, having left home shortly after high-school graduation, determined to make it in the antiques world rather than attend the boring secretarial school her mother had in mind. Now in her midthirties, Teddie misses the chance to reconcile with her estranged mother and becomes obsessed with finding her brother after all these years. Along the way, she finds love and comes to terms with her childhood. Hoffman has a good ear for dialogue, and Teddie and her friends are realistic, appealing characters. Perfect for fans of family-centered women's fiction, this book will have special appeal to readers interested in antiques and shabby chic style.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)