Library, Learned Owl to host new novelist Beth Hoffman

Northern Ohio native Beth Hoffman will discuss her debut novel, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13, at Hudson
Library & Historical Society. Set initially in Willoughby, the novel tells the story of a 12-year-old girl who, after her mother dies, is sent to
grow up amid strong Southern women in Savannah, Georgia, during the turbulent, racially charged 1960s. 

Hoffman began writing as a girl when she lived with her parents and brother on her grandparents’ farm. Painting was her other passion.

“I wrote my first short story when I was 11 and sold my first painting at the age of 14,” says Hoffman, who now lives in northern Kentucky.
 “I believed the sale of the painting was a sign of what direction I should take in life. So I chose a career in art that eventually segued into
 interior design, but I still kept writing and dreaming of becoming a novelist.”

After a health scare, she sold her share of a Cincinnati design business and devoted herself to writing. The result is Saving CeeCee
Honeycutt, which Learned Owl owner Liz Murphy calls “delightful” and “lovely.” Library Journal awarded it a prized “star” review, saying,
“Exemplifying Southern storytelling at its best, this coming-of-age novel is sure to be a hit with the book clubs that adopted Sue Monk
Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees.” The Book Report Network compares it with such popular titles as The Help and Steel Magnolias.

 Hoffman will sign copies of the book following a discussion. No registration is required. Call the reference desk at
330-653-6658, ext. 1010, for more information, or visit the library’s website at www.hudsonlibrary.org.