Leelee Satterfield's life in Memphis, Tennessee, is
perfect! She can't understand her husband's sudden
restlessness and his desire to uproot their family to
Vermont of all places. Leelee always bows to her husband's
wishes and has never defied him. Against her better
judgment and her friends' belief that she has lost her
mind, Leelee packs her bags and heads to Vermont where her
husband has bought a dilapidated bed-and-breakfast to
restore, sinking all their money into it.
The culture shock upon arriving nearly has Leelee turning
around and heading home. The monstrous flies and mosquitoes
resembled vampires in a feeding frenzy, leaving Leelee and
the kids soaked in bug repellant. The cold and heavy snows
are unbearable in the leaky inn that has little to no
insulation. When her husband up and leaves in the middle of
the night for another woman, Leelee is stuck. She has no
money but a huge mortgage each month and employees to pay.
Finding her backbone, Leelee discovers her inner strengths
as she struggles to keep her life from dissolving into
complete disaster.
Funny, engaging, loads of Southern attitude and humor are
just a few words that come to mind after reading Ms.
Patton's debut novel. She nails the characters from
eccentric Vermonters to a misplaced Southern Belle. The
portrayal of Leelee's growth from being her husband's
ornament to finding and developing into an independent
woman who discovers happiness with loads of help from her
girlfriends gives this read a thumbs-up.
Southern belle Leelee Satterfield leaves her beloved
Memphis to follow her husband’s pipe dream: to manage a
quaint Vermont inn. But when they arrive, young daughters
and ancient Yorkie in tow, they discover pretty fast that
there’s a truckload of things nobody tells you about
Vermont until you live there. When Leelee is left swindled
and snowbound, she’s forced to con - front the true depth
of her Southern grit in this foreign town.