Thursday, August 30, 2007

The Secret Lives of the Kudzu Debutantes-Cathy Holton

The Secret Lives of the Kudzu Debutantes
Cathy Holton
Ballantine, Aug 2007, $23.95
ISBN: 9781400063680

One year ago in Ithaca, Georgia the Kudzu Debutantes (Eadie Boone, Nita Broadwell and Lavonne Zibolsky) decided they had enough with cheating spouses so these steel magnolia catfighters (even if one is a carpetbagger) went dirty and revenged the affront. The repercussions of this not so civil war continue to haunt residents of the small town. Lavonne dumped her spouse Leonard and eighty pounds of bagels and ice cream while starting a business; Eadie is still married to Trevor, but feels he still ignores her; Nita divorced Charles. The trio’s public actions devastated the reputation of the Broadwell & Boone family law firm where their philandering husbands worked.

Charles’ outraged sexagenarian mother Virginia is further angered to learn Nita is marrying “boy toy” carpenter Jimmy Lee Motes. She decides to punish the Kudzu Debutantes for annihilating the family law firm by bankrupting Nita via forcing an expensive custody battle that her husband can afford while her opponent cannot over her granddaughter, Whitney. The second uncivil war has begun at a time that Lavonne finds some romance and Eadie struggles to wake up her now novelist husband, but each knows Nita’s needs them now.

As with the first Kudzu Debutantes, the second tale is a delightful satire of southern customs using exaggeration to tell a tale of revenge, counter-revenge, and ultimate trumping revenge. The two sides contain terrific strategic planners whose war shakes up the small Georgia town still reeling from last year’s combat. Fans will appreciate the antics of Kudzu threesome as they battle the ultimate dominant steel magnolia in a no holds bar catfight.

Harriet Klausner

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