Carrigan, Ella Rae, and Laine have been friends their entire lives. Softball, school, parties, and now adult life – nothing has broken them apart. Not even an affair that left them divided on the right course forward. But now they are facing the one thing that can end their triad – death – and learning that life isn’t always perfect, you just have to enjoy the ride.
Celeste Fletcher McHale delivers a poignant tale of female friendship in her debut novel The Secret to Hummingbird Cake that will leave you in tears from grief and from laughter at the same time. Based loosely on a true story, the author delves into what happens when life throws curve balls at you and your friends, as well as the power in forgiveness. This is a story about more than just friendship and moving on – it’s a story about the legacy we leave behind, and the impact one moment can have on forever.
I give The Secret to Hummingbird Cake 4 out of 5 stars. This book felt so real – the challenges the women face are real life, no sugar coated or politically correct things. The author confronts destruction caused by adultery head on, both in the relationship and the friendships around the person. This does feel a bit like it was made to be seen on a screen though – there were good descriptions throughout, but some scenes felt included only to increase the drama and not to further the plot. I will say this was a tough read for me for personal reasons and it has made me miss my female friendships!
If you enjoy the writing of Heather Webber such as At The Coffee Shop of Curiosities or Mary Kay Andrews such as Bright Lights Big Christmas, you will love this book! I should mention this book needs trigger warnings for adultery (mentioned above), but also for cancer. Given those topics and discussions of underage partying and fights, I would direct this novel to more mature audiences over 16 years old. This would be a great girlfriend read, especially for those groups in your 30s or 40s who have lived through a lot of life events, but have more to work through.
I chose The Secret to Hummingbird Cake for the US States reading prompt “Louisiana”. If you check the Goodreads page for this book, it doesn’t necessarily state it’s set in Louisiana, but I have it on good authority that’s exactly where this story takes places. There really are so many great books set in the state, but I wanted to avoid books I read for Mardi Gras that are typically set in New Orleans and focus more on the rest of the state with this choice. What good books would you suggest for this prompt?
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What I’m Reading
- Current print book: Rich People Problems, Kevin Kwan
- Current audio book: Prep, Curtis Sittenfeld
- Book I’m most looking forward to: Legends of the Fall, Jim Harrison
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