The Red Hat Club Rides Again [Mass Market Paperback]

Haywood Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2005

Georgia, SuSu, Teeny, Linda and Diane have been friends for more than thirty years.  But when Pru Bonner, black sheep of the group, falls off the wagon so hard it shakes their world, "the girls" stage a hilarious kidnapping in Vegas to help their childhood friend clean up her act. As the women confront their pasts along with their hazardous adventure, they discover surprising strength in themselves and their friendships. Laughter is spiced with secrets, surprises, and pitfalls aplenty, including a midlife pregnancy test, the perils of internet dating, an all-expense-paid plastic surgery cruise, and a surprise celebration that proves it's never too late for love.
 
As in THE RED HAT CLUB, these irrepressible heroines face the challenges of friendship in sickness and in health, with heart and indomitable humor. So join The Red Hats and remember that age is all in your head, calories should always be in chewable form (Diet Coke with chocolate éclairs!), and that when all else fails, your Red Hats will see you through.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Smith fans know that when 50-something females don red hats for lunch at Atlanta's Swan Coach House tearoom, mayhem ensues. Club members Susu (wild divorcée now studying law), Teeny (abandoned woman turned corporate mogul), Diane (displaced wife now fashion designer), Linda (unflappable Jewish mother now in crisis), and Georgia (married narrator newly in love with her husband) unite to save old pal Pru from addiction. Four of the five fly to Las Vegas, where they kidnap Pru from a casino with the help of a good-looking cowboy, and then the six reunite to help Pru confront her inner demons in rehab. They also help each other through personal and family challenges and then wrap everything up with a cosmetic surgery cruise. Talk about intervention. For all their mischief, these women on the verge of second adolescence retain core values of Southern womanhood: goodness, graciousness and grandchildren. With flashbacks to their younger days and the ladies' not-so-strict adherence to 12 Sacred Traditions ("No Lies," "No 'I Told You So's,' " etc.), the book's fun lies not in guessing how things turn out but in Smith's warm, chatty style and images of "mommy-faced" women prancing about on an ocean liner wearing nothing but high heels, sunglasses and, of course, red hats. Though attempts at hilarity can be hit and miss, and outrageous scenarios and easy solutions strain credibility, well, it's hard to keep good women down, as The Red Hat Club's bestseller status proves. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

If you think all Red Hat Club members are sweet old ladies with a penchant for purple frocks and crimson chapeaus, think again. Smith's bunch of Buckhead babes--Georgia, Diane, Linda, SuSu, and Teeny--may all be women of a "certain age," but that doesn't mean they have to act like it. They're feisty, and sexy, and loyal to a fault, so when there's trouble within the group, they rally like the Three Musketeers on steroids. Of course, it helps when one of the members is a multimillionaire, able to spare no expense when it comes to problem solving. And if that means firing up the corporate jet to launch a drug intervention in Vegas, or booking an ocean liner for a monthlong plastic surgery cruise, then that's what the Red Hats do. If you're willing to suspend disbelief and go along for the joy ride, then hitting the road with Smith's lovable ladies is a riotous, raucous, roller-coaster adventure. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --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 (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312990766
• ISBN-13: 978-0312990763
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #842,212 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction > Friendship

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

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Gal Pals Adventure....Fun!, January 30, 2006

By 

L. Shirley "Laurie's Boomer Views" (Huntington Beach,CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Red Hat Club Rides Again (Mass Market Paperback)

The Red Hat Club Rides Again"(by Haywood Smith) is a fun read and a nice little diversion for gals of a certain age(ahem).Six 50 somethings take to the road, the air and the sea for some wild adventures and fun times. For over 30 years they've been sharing each others joys and woe, and you get the feeling this will continue for the rest of their lives.

In this book, they stand by their buddies through sickness and health,and through good times and bad. They take Vegas by storm, as they rescue one of their own from a drug addiction, they even go to group counseling to help a friend through rough spots and are there in force when one falls ill. A cruise ship doesn't know what it is in for with our gals aboard, stirring up some merry mischief and tantalizing times.

Although I thought there were times when there was just a little too much detail on the togetherness(for example, one did the others "colors" and we have to read through each and every color they try on to see how they look in it),Miss Smith fills the pages with a wonderful humor and will take you away from the everyday hum drum of life for a while.At some points, she goes back to their youth, so we get a good idea of how long and what these ladies have been through together, to bring them to the closeness they still enjoy. The adventures these Red Hats take us on, mix the comedic with the poignant times. They of course are a little far fetched, but fun none the less. Miss Smith even includes a nice low-carb recipe for Dark Chicken Salad at the end of the book.

If you have enjoyed a friendship or friendships over the years, that have taken you through the highs and lows of your life, you will certainly understand how these gals feel about each other.

Enjoy the read....Laurie

more recommended reading:
Senior Citizens Writing: A Workshop and Anthology, with an Introduction and Guide for Workshop Leaders

Angela's Ashes: A Memoir of a Childhood

Back When We Were Grownups

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Favorite Book of All Time, August 10, 2006

By 

Laura Clark - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Red Hat Club Rides Again: A Novel (Hardcover)

I absolutely loved this book. It's a story of friendship and love - no matter what - and it's told so wonderfully by Ms. Smith. I laughed until I had tears streaming down my face - and then laughed some more. And I cried.

I was right there with them through every trial, tribulation, and joy.

I want to join the Red Hat Club!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars life begins at fifty, March 23, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Red Hat Club Rides Again: A Novel (Hardcover)

Though the membership are all in their fifties, the Red Hats still meet every month for lunch though their choice of locale has changed somewhat since Teeny has twenty million earned during the Clinton stock market boom to waste. Instead of always a high class Atlanta area location, the group also meets elsewhere incuding the Bahamas though that was part of a month long plastic-surgery extreme makeovers cruise.

When member Pru breaks the substance abuse tenet of the twelve commandments, her southern sisters (Georgia, SuSu, Diane, Linda, and of course Teeny - someone has to pay for this extravaganza) ignoring tradition 5 of minding your own business, converge on Las Vegas. Sin City is not prepared for the invasion of the Red Hats who plan to intervene and kidnap Pru so that they can take her to clean herself up in the Rockies at an exclusive rehab center, but first they must play the slots.

The Red Hat Club once again proves that life begins at fifty as these Southern steel magnolias refuse to allow time or family relationships to interfere with their long time friendships. The current tale is intriguingly deep yet irreverent as the members satirically assault anything in their way, just ask Elton John, who will surely wear a red hat in his next public appearance. Haywood Smith provides a warm delightful tale of strong friendships that mean helping one another live life to the fullest.

Harriet Klausner