I wanted to like this book so much. I was totally in love with it when I found it at a thrift store -- everything from the title to the actual plot summary looked interesting. I saw the less than impressed reviews online, but read it anyway.

Maaaaaaaan. Such a disappointment.

None of the characters were all that interesting. They were basically two types of characters: the Bonnies and the Casses. There was the "conservative" polite character (AKA Bonnie) and the bff rough and tough character (AKA Cass).

I thought I was going to get a fun, bizarre read about a bunch of old ladies sitting around sewing underwear, or at least sewing SOMEthing.

Instead I got a bland, tedious read about a bunch of old ladies going through midlife crises and eating triscuits.

The absolute only part that was the slightest bit interesting was the subplot of Hilly and Jess, but even that got kind of stale. The writing isn't good enough to get away with boring, unsurprising plotlines, and the characters aren't nearly good enough to make me care about their boring, unsurprising plotlines.

Sorry, Florabama. ( )

Fluffy, summer reading. Major message: women are strong in crisis...no kidding! Good for beach reading. ( )

A very nice story, with really interesting characters. I loved Hilly...a gal that says what she thinks, and doesn't take any "guff" from anyone. Great women's friendship that makes you laugh one minute and cry the next. ( )

This is a delightful, funny and warm-hearted novel about a group of women in a town near the Alabama-Florida border. After losing her wealthy husband and comfortable lifestyle to bankruptcy, Bonnie Duke-Cullman takes on a job as a counsellor for a group of 'displaced homemakers', or middle-aged women from poor backgrounds with little or no education, who have just been made redundant at a local lingerie factory.

The main premise is about sisters doing it for themselves ('You go, girl!'), but the characters are all so wonderfully drawn and sympathetic, especially colourful Hilly and poor Ruth, that the motivational message is (almost) woven seamlessly into the story of their lives. Southern chick lit, perhaps, but in the world-weary, sharp-tongued community spirit of films like 'Steel Magnolias', which is a guilty pleasure of mine! Hilly's romance with the owner of a Mexican restaurant almost put me off, if only because Jess is such a terrible caricature, but Bonnie's mad fling with Riz neutralises the saccharine flavour of that Happy Ever After!

All in all a quick, light read, with a group of entertaining and likeable ladies. ( )

A story about a recently divorced society woman in her 40's, who needs to enter the workforce for essentially the first time in her life. She finds a job as a college counselor to a group of women who were recently laid off from a local lingerie factory. The two unlikely groups become friends and together they are able to get through their challenging life points. ( )