About the Book:
Beth Hoffman’s bestselling debut, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, won admirers and acclaim with its heartwarming story and cast of unforgettable characters. Now her unique flair for evocative settings and richly drawn Southern personalities shines in her compelling new novel, Looking for Me.
Teddi Overman found her life’s passion for furniture in a broken-down chair left on the side of the road in rural Kentucky. She learns to turn other people’s castoffs into beautifully restored antiques, and eventually finds a way to open her own shop in Charleston. There, Teddi builds a life for herself as unexpected and quirky as the customers who visit her shop. Though Teddi is surrounded by remarkable friends and finds love in the most surprising way, nothing can alleviate the haunting uncertainty she’s felt in the years since her brother Josh’s mysterious disappearance. When signs emerge that Josh might still be alive, Teddi is drawn home to Kentucky. It’s a journey that could help her come to terms with her shattered family—and to find herself at last. But first she must decide what to let go of and what to keep.
Looking for Me brilliantly melds together themes of family, hope, loss, and a mature once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. The result is a tremendously moving story that is destined to make bestselling author Beth Hoffman a novelist to whom readers will return again and again as they have with Adriana Trigiani, Fannie Flagg, and Joshilyn Jackson.
My Comments:
I've started this review several times and I just can't seem to get it right. One thing is for sure, Beth Hoffman got it right when writing Looking for Me
. She managed to capture a panoply of human relationships and emotions within Teddi's story. Her writing is top-notch and she manages to evoke emotions from the reader without manipulating them. Again and again we learn that people aren't who they appear to be at first glance, and that that's okay. Kind of like the furniture Teddi restores, when you get past the surface the real beauty of the person shines through.
. She managed to capture a panoply of human relationships and emotions within Teddi's story. Her writing is top-notch and she manages to evoke emotions from the reader without manipulating them. Again and again we learn that people aren't who they appear to be at first glance, and that that's okay. Kind of like the furniture Teddi restores, when you get past the surface the real beauty of the person shines through.
I guess I could keep writing but I just can't think of how to pull it all together. Suffice to say that this is one of the best books I've read all year and I highly recommend it. Grade: A.
I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via Edelweiss.
What a terrific surprise. Thank you for your wonderful review of my novel, RAnn! I'm delighted that you enjoyed Teddi's story and honored that it has earned your recommendation and a grade of A.
ReplyDeleteanother for my list
ReplyDeleteThis is the second book I've read by Beth Hoffman, the first being "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt" which I read about a year ago.
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say about this book, I found it fascinating, sometimes sad, but in the end it became to me a feel good book. Teddi's brother, Josh, was a bit eccentric, to say the least. I thought the family was odd in its own sort of way, however, as I continued reading the story, we found out about their background and things begin to become commingled. I begin to understand why the mother was so sad, with an attitude devoid of hope, never looking for 'the silver lining when a cloud appeared in the sky.'
There was some mystery surrounding Josh's disappearance, the story has a bit of light romance, and as I said before as I finished the book, it also left me with a feel good feeling that everything came together so nicely.
I awarded this book 3*** because I did like the book, but... there were parts of the story that left me wondering and wanting to know more about Teddi's brother Josh. This book is a part of my Nook library.