The Florabama Ladies' Auxiliary & Sewing Circle by Lois Battle

Florabama is a small town down off the freeway where plots of cotton grow, the roads are dirt and you can sip a Coca Cola while thinking about love and money.  This small town was also where 'Cherished Lady' had a large factory full of hard-working women who cut lace, sewed garments and knew nothing but to sit at a sewing machine all day and make lingerie.  This was until the factory closed its doors and moved south of the border where they could make more garments and more money; making the worker work for less money.  This left the workers in Florabama with no other skills than sewing and cutting lace.  

At the same time, Bonnie Duke Cullman had just begun the first day on the rest of her life... her divorce was final and she had been left with nothing.  So, when the job came up to help these women, she jumped at the chance to start anew.  And just like the women at 'Cherished Lady', Bonnie had been downsized from a life of she had become accustomed to.  The life was of money, credit cards and a loving husband; however it had ended so quickly.  When Bonnie finds a job for them all at a childrens' boutique in Atlanta, they all band together to get the order finished before Easter.  But all doesn't go quite to plan as Bonnie's car breaks down and she has to get the garments to Atlanta somehow.  Can she trust a young, woman who never liked doing anything she suggested from the beginning? Or does it all fall apart at the seams.

I don't normally read women's fiction. However, I wanted something that was light and not too challenging for the last few weeks; as I was going away on a holiday and wanted to be able to come home and pick it up from where I left off.  After this last week, I did and found I could pick it up quite easily.  What a wonderful book.  I do love the way Florabama is described to me; as it looks like a town I could easily get into for a while to escape from life for a while.  And I do look forward to reading more of Lois' books.

I'm unable to find an official website for Lois Battle right now.  However, I'll keep an eye out for one in the future.  She has written seven other books about strong, outgoing women.  This one I've reviewed is her most recent one published in 2001.