The Secret Lives of the Kudzu Debutantes by Cathy Holton

I just finished this book while I was on vacation and can recommend it for beach or poolside, particularly if you are somewhere in the South.

Following The Revenge of the Kudzu Debutants, this second installment in the lives of an independent group of women from Ithaca, Georgia, is the ideal fun beach read, “packed with authentic Southern flavor and characters as colorful as azaleas in full bloom,” according to the jacket notes. Nita, Lavone, and Eadie are fast friends from the time each was married to one of the three partners in the most prestigious law firm in town. Now the partnership and two of their marriages are dissolved, and the three friends are getting on with their lives, each having newly discovered her independence. As the book opens, however, each friend is facing anxieties and sadness. Nita is anxious about her impending marriage to a man thirteen years her junior, who makes some very risky financial decisions to prove himself to his new bride and her connections. Lavonne is lonely and longs for love despite her new slim figure and her business success. Eadie remains married to Trevor but feels neglected and indulges in an excess of alcohol and wild behavior, ignoring her own artistic gifts. At this most vulnerable time, Virginia Broadwell, grand dame of Ithaca and Nita’s ex-mother-in-law, sees her opportunity to exact her revenge on the three friends for their part in her own social and economic downfall in the wake of the scandal that ruined the law firm. Virginia hatches a devious plot, but hides secrets in her past that could prove her Achilles heel. Will the friends be able to pull together their wit, spirit, and gumption in order to derail Virginia’s scheme?

This is a fun read and it is also a very good picture of friendship among women. I thought the characters were very sympathetically and perceptively drawn, even the larger-than-life character of Virginia Broadwell. Her over-the-top persona provides a good bit of the comedy in the book, which is very funny in places. There is lots of sly observation of character and motive that makes people believable among all the characterizations. Perhaps the book makes you think how people can start to believe their own legends of themselves? Give the book a try and tell me what you think.