Thirteen-year-old Layla Jay finds religion just to satisfy
her grandmother's wishes. Feeling awkward about the
deception, she comes to believe that almost everything that
comes thereafter in her life is a result of her deceitful
action.
In Zebulon, Mississippi, in 1963, Layla Jay and her mother,
Frieda, have lived with her grandparents since the death of
Layla Jay's father. She's disappointed to leave the
grandparents she loves dearly when her mother marries a man
Layla Jay simply doesn't trust and they move to town to
begin a new life.
While her mother and Wallace try to give the impression of
being a happily married couple, Layla Jay muddles through
life discovering boys, love, sex and getting her heart
broken in the process. Then something happens to her
stepfather that puts Layla Jay and Frieda's lives in limbo.
Layla's first deception at church all those months ago has
lead to others. The lies are becoming easier, and they now
seem necessary. Layla Jay feels personally responsible for
all that's happened and will do anything to help her
mother. And correspondingly, Frieda feels the same and
hopes to protect her daughter.
This is a beautifully written story about a young woman
growing up and the delicate balance of the mother and
daughter relationship. Will Layla Jay ever disclose her
secret to anyone? Only the final pages reveal the truth.
A lyrical coming-of-age story set in the 1960s, Hot Fudge
Sundae Blues is an extraordinary companion to Bev
Marshall’s first two novels, Walking Through Shadows and
Right as Rain. Here again she mines the territory of the
small town of Zebulon, Mississippi, where even the most
seemingly ordinary folks harbor well-disguised heartaches
and intricate secrets.
Thirteen-year-old Layla Jay was only pretending when she
knelt before the preacher to seek salvation. She was hoping
to make her grandma happy and get noticed by the cute new
boy in town. But religion truly piques her interest when a
young, handsome visiting preacher stays at her family’s
home. Wallace seems genuinely interested in Layla Jay’s
life–until he meets her mama and falls head over heels,
like many men have before him.
When Wallace marries Frieda, Layla Jay believes she will
finally have the father she’s always wanted. But it seems
that none of her dreams will come true as Layla Jay
wrestles with her mother’s reckless ways, her unsavory
stepfather, a best friend’s betrayal, and the longing for
love’s first kiss. Yet everything pales in comparison to
what happens next as Layla Jay is forced to tell a lie to
save her mother’s world from crashing down.
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