🏛️ "Little Tea" (2020) 🏛️ - Book Review
Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour & Giveaway for Little Tea by Claire Fullerton, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: Little TeaAuthor: Claire Fullerton
Publisher: Firefly Southern Fiction
Release Date: May 1, 2020
Genre: Southern Fiction
Southern Culture … Old Friendships … Family Tragedy
One phone call from Renny to come home and “see about” the capricious Ava and Celia Wakefield decides to overlook her distressful past in the name of friendship.
For three reflective days at Renny’s lake house in Heber Springs, Arkansas, the three childhood friends reunite and examine life, love, marriage, and the ties that bind, even though Celia’s personal story has yet to be healed. When the past arrives at the lake house door in the form of her old boyfriend, Celia must revisit the life she’d tried to outrun.
As her idyllic coming of age alongside her best friend, Little Tea, on her family’s ancestral grounds in bucolic Como, Mississippi unfolds, Celia realizes there is no better place to accept her own story than in this circle of friends who have remained beside her throughout the years. Theirs is a friendship that can talk any life sorrow into a comic tragedy, and now that the racial divide in the Deep South has evolved, Celia wonders if her friendship with Little Tea can triumph over history.
PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
MY REVIEW
Thank you in advance to JustRead Publicity tours
for gifting me a complimentary advanced review copy. A positive review was not
required and all words are my own.
To describe Southern Fiction – “Southern
Fiction is story-driven with distinctly Southern characters living within the
realm of Southern tradition, both historical and contemporary” – this is taken
directly from the publisher’s website.
And, despite the few books I have read – this is
an unfamiliar genre for me. But, it is a unique and different type of read. Claire
Fullerton is one such “Southern Fiction” author, and one who is new to me.
Some content warnings: there will be some
racial epithets/slurs/insults as respective to the time and culture; some
same-sex references and a relationship; murder; and under-age drinking. The racial divide and tones are clearly
indicated with some racial epithets and even a same-sex reference.
This is not an easy or “feel good” read. This
book is definitely unlike any I have read. Fullerton’s writing is very
descriptive and vivid while also very thought-provoking. It definitely took
time to get into this book, despite the short length of the novel.
Imposing mansion on front begs the question –
haunted or what? But, as it turns out, it is Celia’s Como, Mississippi home
where memories of “Little Tea” are.
The title of the novel refers to the nickname
of a childhood friend of the main character/narrator of the story – Celia. It
is this friend, Thelonia – “Little Tea”, that becomes a huge part of Celia’s
and her story.
The two meet at age 10 as Little Tea’s father,
Thelonius, works the grounds of Celia’s family plantation – or rather farm as
it is now called. The friendship broke racial barriers in the 1980’s.
Told in first person POV by Celia, “Little Tea”
is a dual timeline story that starts in present day with Celia heading to
Memphis/Arkansas to help Renny intervene with their mutual friend, Ava, who is
having a crisis. All three are in their late 40’s and have been friends since
high school. One thing that Ava mentions is that happiness is individual,
something different for everyone.
One of Ava’s issues is her marriage – and to
complicate things, her ex-boyfriend comes back. He isn’t the only one and Celia
is forced to also reconcile a painful past. This past isn’t totally resolved by
the end of the book or fully explained as to what got them where they were.
The characters are intricately written and
deeply flawed – and while there was a lot of narrative about Celia and her relationship
with Little Tea, there was not nearly enough about Renny.
Fullerton crafts very diverse characters, deep
friendships, southern traditions of keeping personal things personal. The
author doesn’t shy away from racist notes, but confronts it, especially with
Celia’s grandmother. Other subjects that Fullerton tackles are socioeconomic
hierarchy, deep-seated inferiority complexes, letting go of the past, and
sometimes trying to out-run it.
The plot is complex, skillfully crafted, with vivid
detail – drama, infidelity, under-age drinking, and even a same-sex relationship.
There was, for me, a bit too much narrative in the story though. Also, there
were some terms that were written that I had not heard in the 1980’s – at least
where I lived. I didn’t hear them until about 2014/2015. In addition, there
were a lot of Southern references that some readers might not pick up on.
I enjoyed the dual timeline story, but I would’ve
appreciated years being used for context as “sometime in the 1980’s” was a bit
too general (ie: 1981 – 1989). Was it 1984, 1988, 1983? As I am close or nearly
close to the characters’ ages, it would’ve provided some context as to the
climate of the time.
Memphis (Tennessee) and Como (Mississippi) were
mostly in the past; Heber Springs (Arkansas) was used for present day. There
were no chapter numbers used. There is one choppy scene tradition during an
incident in Memphis that connects to the present day without a cohesive
transition.
There were some confusing parts. To reveal them
would be spoilers. I can state that overall it was a beautiful read. I was
still left wondering what happened at the end between Celia and Tate’s break-up.
For about 2/3 of the book, there were little to
no Christian themes, the last 1/3 of the book relied on church and Christian
themes, though they were not central to the plot. However, this is not listed as a “Christian” read, so readers should keep that in mind when wondering if they want to read it. It is; for the most part; a clean read with no real sex references or vulgar language.
The book does make one examine their own
attitudes, lives, and perspective when it comes to racial relations in addition
to how they deal with the individual situations in their lives.
Fans of the author, genre, or whose own past
resonate with story might enjoy this. And, given the current climate it is
definitely a book that should be read.
RATING:
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal
Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Claire Fullerton hails from Memphis, TN. and now lives in Malibu, CA. with her husband and 3 German shepherds. She is the author of Mourning Dove, a coming of age, Southern family saga set in 1970's Memphis. Mourning Dove is a five-time award winner, including the Literary Classics Words on Wings for Book of the Year, and the Ippy Award silver medal in regional fiction ( Southeast.) Claire is also the author of Dancing to an Irish Reel, a Kindle Book Review and Readers' Favorite award winner that is set on the west coast of Ireland, where she once lived. Claire's first novel is a paranormal mystery set in two time periods titled, A Portal in Time, set in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. She is a contributor to the book, A Southern Season with her novella, Through an Autumn Window, set at a Memphis funeral ( because something always goes wrong at a Southern funeral.)
Little Tea is Claire's 4th novel and is set in the Deep South. It is the story of the bonds of female friendship, healing the past, and outdated racial relations. Little Tea is the August selection of the Pulpwood Queens, a Faulkner Society finalist in the William Wisdom international competition, and on the long list of the Chanticleer Review's Somerset award. She is represented by Julie Gwinn of the Seymour Literary Agency. https://www.clairefullerton.com
CONNECT WITH CLAIRE: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
TOUR GIVEAWAY
(1) winner will receive an ebook copy of Little Tea and $5 Amazon gift card!
Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway will begin at midnight June 8, 2020 and last through 11:59 PM EST on June 15, 2020. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.
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