Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch: A Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Haywood Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 19, 2003

Linwood Breedlove Scott's life has officially hit rock bottom. Her husband of thirty years has run off with a stripper. The IRS has taken everything but her coffee table. And her hot flashes are four-alarmers. The only thing that could make being flat-broke and fifty any worse is having to crawl home to her parents' house in Mimosa Branch, Georgia...which is exactly where she's headed.

Lin's barely prepared for the loony bin that greets her, from her controlling, eighty-year-old mother and shockingly blunt father to her long-suffering Aunt Glory and her deranged Uncle Bedford who is convinced a cannibal lives under the furniture. Nor is she ready for the instant love-hate attraction she feels for her handsome new next-door neighbor. Trying to navigate her way through the second act of her life with nothing more than a prepaid calling card, a broken heart, and plenty of Prozac, Lin's about to discover that it's never too late for old friends, new romance, the ties of family, and a second chance to survive it all on the road to becoming the person you were always meant to be...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"The only degree I have is a Ph.D. in Southern Bitch," proclaims Linwood Breedlove Scott, the feisty Prozac-popping, menopausal heroine of Smith's hardcover debut. When her husband drains their bank account and leaves her for a stripper, Lin retreats to her hometown of Mimosa Branch, Ga., to lick her wounds. Facing her conservative, gossipy Southern town as a newly divorced woman is no easy task, however, especially when her best friend lives miles away, her house has become a menagerie haunted by her Alzheimer's-stricken Uncle Bedford, and her boss at the drugstore is an uptight Northerner, Grant Owens, whom she finds disturbingly attractive. Determined to leave her meek hausfrau self behind and start taking charge of her life, she plots to seduce Grant and joins forces with an ex-con preacher with the proverbial heart of gold to oust the corrupt mayor from office. The story covers familiar territory, but Lin's efforts to make a home for herself in a now-unfamiliar town, to reconnect with her old friends and mend rifts with her family are well-observed and bittersweet. Snapshots of Southern living will charm the hardest-hearted Yankee; the purple bathtub full of pink begonias on Lin's mother's porch is irresistible. The inspirational tone becomes rather cloying as the happy-ever-after ending approaches, but strong characters and Smith's irrepressible wit anchor the fluff.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Left in a situation right out a bad country-and-western song (her husband has run off with a stripper), Linwood Breedlove Scott heads back her hometown of Mimosa Branch, GA, to create a new life. Lin finds her parents as crazy as they were when she married 30 years ago, and the small town outside of Atlanta is ripe with corruption. After a slow start, the novel seems to lurch from romance to parody to pop psychology to Southern belle humor, though the language at times sends some for smelling salts. There are funny moments, and Holiness preacher and mayoral candidate Donnie West is a great character. But humor is a matter of delicate balance, and Lin's Uncle Bedford falls flat; Alzheimer's is too horrible for many to inspire chuckles. Also tiring is the frequent male bashing. Smith has written six successful historical romance novels and should perhaps stay with the genre she's mastered. With reduced public library budgets in many states and an abundance of excellent Southern belle novels, this one can be ignored.
Rebecca Sturm Kelm, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (October 19, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312989393
• ISBN-13: 978-0312989392
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #674,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times best-selling author Haywood Smith did not start writing till she was forty. Seven years of learning, writing, and rewriting later, St. Martins Press published the first of six critically acclaimed, best-selling historical novels about "strong women, hunky heroes, accurate history, and upbeat endings."

After a devastating divorce left her financially destitute, she switched to writing humorous Southern women's fiction about Baby Boomer women who help each other through their various trials with creativity, loyalty, and lots of fun, earning Haywood a place on the New York Times best seller list. ("I sent my ex a thank-you note.")

Haywood adored her mother-in-law, who lived across the street for twenty-five years, then moved in at Haywood's invitation after the divorce. In her mother-in-law's memory, Haywood wrote a fun, helpful handbook titled THE TWELVE SACRED TRADITIONS OF MAGNIFICENT MOTHERS-IN-LAW.

Haywood loves to do stand-up comedy about her life (It's been wild.) and waives her speaker's fee for women's charity fundraisers, Red Hat regional meetings, and Friends of the Library groups. Contact her at [e-mail] with EVENT in the subject line for particulars.

She also loves to hear from her fans at [e-mail] and personally answers all her e-mails.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch, November 21, 2002

By 

Sandra Mitchell "Sandra Mitchell" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch: A Novel (Hardcover)

The Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch focuses on Lin Breedlove Scott, who after 30 years of marriage to her first love, finds herself bitterly divorced. Now pessimistic towards all men, Lin returns home to Mimosa Branch, living with her parents, an aunt, and an uncle who isn't "with it" and a brother she has grown distant from.

Lin's most pressing issue is to save enough money to move into the apartment about her parent's garage, where she can regain a bit of privacy & self-respect. She lands a job at her old place of employment, the local drug-store. Lin gets to experience small town life once again, and her story unfolds as she mixes with a cast of zany characters and gets mixed up in the local small town politics & scandals. Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch had a lot of potential, and had it's cute moments, but overall I felt it was lacking in character development. The story was an easy read and the writing was good, I just couldn't identify with the main character as much as I hoped.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Put me on the side of the women who still like men, July 23, 2003

By 

Brahmama - See all my reviews

This review is from: Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch: A Novel (Hardcover)

I just finished this book last night, and I was so irritated by the weird, incomplete and vapid ending that I couldn't wait to read the reviews on here today!

I try so hard to screen out all the man-hating, ball-busting women's books and I thought this would be a good one. Sure with humor (I certainly HOPE with humor) but with some insight and just a plain good read.

And the strange thing is that it was a pretty good read until about the last 3 chapters and then it just *Bam* like Emeril says, went south (pardon the pun) in a hurry.

I was checking out what I thought was some pretty good man insight with my sometimes too honest husband, and sure enough, she hit some nails straight in. But then, it's like she got sick, and someone else who *really* hates the male gender finished it for her while she recovered!

I could only think of those lit classes in college where you did a group book, with different ones of us taking a chapter to continue with the last one you read.

Hey, I'm flawed, you're flawed, everyone one is flawed, sisters. Not just men. Of course they are flawed too. After thinking about it, I decided that Ms Smith is still very wounded and can't get on with real life.

Don't waste your money, unless you really dig the books that diss the men and keep those ladies on their pedestal.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun sassy book!, March 18, 2005

By 

Busy Mom (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

I read The Red Hat Club first but I did pick this one up first at the bookstore ~~ it looks fun and after having surgery, I was definitely in the mood for FUN! Linwood is the character that I wish I could be ~~ speaks her mind and gets away with it. And this book had me laughing in several spots ~~ which is the best medicine that the doctors could recommend.

Linwood moves home after thirty years of marriage ~~ moves home to an ailing father, a bossy mom, an uncle who is slowly losing his mind and his beleagured wife. There is the long-suffering brother who is home after his numerous divorce. Linwood was just not anxious to be back home ~~ but she didn't have any place left to go.

Stuck in real estate classes at night, she works at the local pharmacy during the day time ~~ Linwood becomes embroiled with the local politics in butting heads with the current mayor and council ~~ and she also falls into lust with her next-door-neighbor. This book is just fun ~~ and not so predictable as I thought it might be. It's full of sassy humor and wit ~~ perfect for any woman who is going through a male-bashing period.

This book is intended to be fun ~~ not a serious tome of life ~~ and it worked for me! It's also a perfect beach/pool read for this upcoming summer! Be sure to bring your glass of iced tea and enjoy!

3-18-05