Their husbands are partners in a law firm, and they are best
of friends. Two are natives of Ithaca, Georgia, raised on
the wrong side of the tracks and married into fine, old
wealth families (much to the chagrin of their in-laws).
Alas, Lavonne Zibolsky is a newcomer, having only lived in
Ithaca for eighteen-years, God love her, and is a ...
shudder... Yankee, bless her heart. Sit back, relax, and
be prepared to roll in the floor laughing at the antics of
Eadie Boone, Nita Broadwell, and Lavonne when they seek
revenge against cheating husbands, and thumb their noses at
Southern tradition.
Eadie is talented sculptress/artist and an ex-beauty queen.
She has been stalking her husband and his twenty-two year
old girl friend for several months, and it isn't as
effective as it once was. She knows Trevor still loves
her, and will come to his senses soon, but it might take
something a little more dramatic to get his attention.
Nita's has immersed herself in erotic, Native American
romances, and fantasizes about the young Native American
carpenter who is doing repairs at the Broadwell home.
Nita's husband, Charles, is older, domineering, and her
children are miserable. Nita wants more from her husband,
and her life, than she is getting. However, the condom she
finds in Charles' hunting jacket opens her eyes to the state
of her marriage.
Lavonne has been put in charge of the law firm's annual
party when Charles' mother, Virginia, decided at the last
minute she could not do it. She's desperate to find
caterers, etc., because her husband, Leonard, wants
everything to be perfect. Lavonne has surrounded herself
with food, is sixty pounds overweight and miserable in the
South. Unbeknownst to her, Leonard is planning to get a
divorce in the near future.
Three incidents have pride of place in this story; the law
firm's annual party, the law partner's annual hunting trip
in Montana, and the annual Kudzu Ball. The party is a
hilarious, roaring success, and the annual hunting party is,
well you gotta find that out for yourself.
You have to wait for the Kudzu Ball and the crowning of the
Kudzu Queen, but it is definitely worth waiting for, and
absolutely worth the price of admission. Who couldn't
enjoy being present for the coronation of Ithaca's own Miss
Ima Badass, and her theme song, played by the Swamp Dogs:
"Liquored Up and Lacquered Down"
Debut author Cathy Holton's writing is lusciously organized,
and sated with bawdy, sharp humor, fleshed-out, superb
characters, and exceptional narrative. REVENGE OF THE
KUDZU DEBUTANTES is, in this reader's opinion, a strong
candidate for best new author and best book of the year.
kud • zu kud-zü n: a ubiquitous vine/weed found in
Southern climes that, left uncontrolled, will grow over
any fixed object in its path, including trees, power
lines, and the entire state of Georgia.
deb•u•tante de-byu-tänt n: a young woman making a debut
into society, easily spotted in white dress and pearl
necklace. Common names include Muffy, Bootsy, and Bunny.
Eadie Boone is no shrinking violet. An artist and former
beauty queen who married into one of the first families of
Ithaca, Georgia, she tackles everything with gusto and
flair. But tailing her wayward husband proves to be, well,
an exasperating chore. If only Trevor would just see the
light, dump his twenty-two-year-old hussy, and return
home, Eadie’s creative energy could be put to better use.
Now all she has to do is convince him.
Nita Broadwell, a good Southern girl from a good Southern
family, is jolted out of complacency when she discovers
condoms in her husband’s shirt pocket (“Maybe he’d found
them on the ground and picked them up”). Between clinging
to denial and dodging her overbearing mother-in-law, Nita
is also trying to break her addiction to steamy bodice-
ripper novels. Only now it appears she’s authoring her own
real-life romance tale with a hunky handyman thirteen
years her junior.
Lavonne Zibolsky–a transplanted Yankee, bless her heart–is
saddled with planning the annual Broadwell & Boone law
firm party. That and her lackluster marriage have her
seeking solace in the contents of her refrigerator. If she
could just put down the Rocky Road ice cream and peach
pie, she might get around to finding a caterer, dropping
sixty pounds, and figuring out how to fall in love with
her husband again. Not necessarily in that order.
Bonded by years of friendship, these three women discover
what else they have in common: lying, cheating spouses. So
they heed their collective betrayals as a wake-up call and
band together to exact sweet revenge. The take-charge trio
will see to it that the punishment is just, exquisitely
humiliating, and downright hilarious.
Cathy Holton’s debut novel is a delicious yarn of
friendship and marriage, secrets and retribution, and how
nothing stays hidden for long. Against a Southern backdrop
of gentility and decorum, Revenge of the Kudzu Debutantes
dares to abandon Junior League social graces in ways that
would make even Scarlett O’Hara blush.
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