THE QUAKER CAFE is the story of three friends who live in Cedar Branch, a small Southern town full of all the craziness we have come to expect from small Southern towns. It is a story filled with friendship, sadness, racial tension, and what friends will do for one another when sickness takes one of them down. Once I started reading about these three wonderful friends, I didn't want their story to end. I have read many books with Amish influence and this is the first dealing with the Quaker religion. I really learned a lot about the Quaker way of life.

Billie and her husband, Gill, moved to Cedar Branch ten years ago from New York City. Coming from a big city, Billie set the fashion tone for small town Cedar Branch. When she first arrived, she made sure she got to know everyone in town. She will talk to anyone. She was very naive about southern ways but that didn't stop her friends from falling in love with her. She's very good at managing things and that is what her friends count on her to do for them.

Liz married into a Quaker family when she married Chase and sometimes feels she isn't really the 'perfect quaker' mom. She has four boys, Nat, Nicholas, Adam, and Evan. Being in North Carolina, everyone is a Tar Heels fan. One night while Chase is watching the Tar Heels basketball game, Liz has come up with a plan to seduce her husband who is glued to the couch. When she comes out of the bathroom she has nothing on but a towel. She drops it and starts to dance provocatively for him and after a few turns she sees her father in law sitting with his son! Holy cow, was I laughing out loud getting that picture in my head!

Maggie Kendall lives at Cottonwoods with her father, the judge, Corbett Kendall. When her father passes away one evening at the Cafe, Maggie tells the reverend that her father would have loved it if the black community could join their church for his service. Now this is where the fun begins. Black and white have never mourned or celebrated together, but her father was such a huge source of bringing the people of Cedar Branch together no matter what the color of their skin was. Many of the congregation are upset that Maggie wants the black church coming to theirs but the judge spent many years trying to improve race relations in the community.

THE QUAKER CAFE is a very quick and enjoyable read. I learned a lot of interesting things about the South and The Quakers. I loved the plot, characters, and setting, and once I started reading, it was very hard to stop. I want to find my own Cedar Branch, North Carolina and find a cafe there where everyone knows everyone else. As you are reading, you will find yourself laughing and shaking your head, and feeling a tug at your heart all the while, trying not to cry.