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.
When Liz Hoole, a free-spirited liberal from the Midwest,
marries into a conservative Quaker family, she knows that
raising children in compliance with Quaker values will be
challenging. Twenty-five years later, she still feels like
she’s falling short of expectations. Fortunately, her
faith
and her friends in the small, rural North Carolina town of
Cedar Branch keep her strong.
After her best friend’s politically powerful father dies,
Liz stumbles upon secrets from the past that threaten to
unravel the current harmony in Cedar Branch, a town with a
history of racial tension. As she researches more and
eavesdrops on gossip at the Quaker Café, where everyone
meets each morning, Liz soon discovers the truth about an
injustice that she cannot reveal to anyone—not even her
husband.
Surrounded by a cast of richly drawn Southern characters,
Liz learns that even good people can make bad choices.
Now,
she must decide whether she has the strength to bring a
past
wrong to light, despite the consequences.
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