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Looking for Me

by Beth Hoffman
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Overview

A Southern novel of family and antiques from the bestselling author of the beloved Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

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.

About the Author, Beth Hoffman

Beth Hoffman was the president and co-owner of an interior design studio in Cincinnati before becoming a full-time writer. Looking for Me is her second novel. Her debut, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, was a New York Times bestseller in hardcover and paperback. She lives with her husband and two cats in northern Kentucky.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

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. (June)

Kirkus Reviews

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.

Book Details

Published
May 28, 2013
Publisher
Pamela Dorman Books
Pages
368
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780670025831

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