From Publishers Weekly
Smith's hardcover debut, Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch, was a charmer, but her newest offering falls flat. Five middle-aged women in Atlanta, former sorority sisters and now the last bastion of "civilized" (read: white and Southern) society, meet monthly to dish up gossip and drink iced tea in their red hats and purple outfits, in honor of Jenny Joseph's poem "Warning" ("When I am an old woman I shall wear purple/ With a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me"). Strictly abiding by a list of 12 time-honored rules labeled the "Sacred Traditions" ("Tradition 5: Mind your own business; Tradition 10: With the exception of alcoholic beverages, all calories shall be in chewable form"), they serve as each others' support network. When Diane's husband is discovered to be cheating on her in a condo she paid for the five decide to turn the tables on him. The plot clips along, but the characters are dislikable enough to sabotage the momentum. The Red Hatters tragic wronged wife Diane; flawlessly attired corporate bride Teeny; promiscuous divorcee SuSu; graying, happily married Linda; and narrator Georgia, a restless wife dreaming of her first love, are little more than cardboard cutouts. Their obsession with proper behavior grates on the nerves, and Georgia is overwhelmingly prissy: "the possibility annoyed the poo out of me." The flashbacks to the women's sorority days are more successful one chapter in which two of the girls, terrified of making a friend miss curfew, drive her stuck-in-reverse car five miles home backwards is a chuckler but nothing makes this disappointing effort stand out from the ranks of Rebecca Wells wannabes.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
While the title of this novel springs from a poem about individuality (Jenny Joseph's "Warning"), its characters, the five Atlanta women of the Red Hat Club, work hard to fit a certain genteel image. The story tries to be part STEEL MAGNOLIAS, part DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD, but fails because of its flat characters, who profess to be something they clearly are not. As the friends unite to help one of their club seek revenge on a cheating husband, their adventures are punctuated by flashbacks to younger days. What has been engaging in other literary efforts is here stale, false, and slow. Anne Gartlan offers an able performance--the best that can be expected from a text that has intelligent women using phrases like "Dadgum it!" While some may find this a harmless diversion, the concept has been done better. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
They've been friends since the only hat they'd be caught dead in was their official Mousketeer ears, but now that they're women of a certain age, red hats and purple dresses represent their wardrobe of choice. Risking ridicule from the fashion police, lifelong pals Georgia, Diane, Linda, SuSu, and Teeny don their geriatric getup at ritual lunches of sweet tea and salads, tacky jokes and true confessions. There's nothing these feisty friends don't know about each other, nothing they wouldn't do for each other, so when Diane suspects her husband of having an affair, who else can she call on to help catch him red-handed? As they help Diane plot her revenge, each friend revisits and reveals the depth of her loyalty. Although not endorsed by the official "Red Hat Society," Smith's celebration of comradeship is a loving tribute to those lifelong relationships that may defy logic but are destined to outlive many other associations. A joyous, joyful ode to the older woman. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
"By turns humorous and poignant, this is a novel with characters so real that evven non-Southerners will find them familiar."


Review
"By turns humorous and poignant, this is a novel with characters so real that evven non-Southerners will find them familiar."


Book Description
Meet Georgia, SuSu, Teeny, Diane, and Linda--five women who've been best friends through thirty years since high school. Sit in when they don their red hats and purple outfits to join Atlanta's Ladies Who Lunch for a delicious monthly serving of racy jokes, iced tea and chicken salad, baskets of sweet rolls, the latest Buckhead gossip, and most of all--lively support and caring through the ups and downs of their lives. When Diane discovers her banker husband has a condo (with mistress) that he bought with their retirement funds, the Red Hats swing into action and hang him with his own rope in a story that serves up laughter, friendship, revenge, high school memories, long-lost loves, a suburban dominatrix, and plenty of white wine and junk food. From the 1960s to the present, The Red Hat Club is a funny, unforgettable novel that shows the power women can find when they accept and support each other.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Meet Georgia, SuSu, Teeny, Diane, and Linda--five women who've been best friends through thirty years since high school. Sit in when they don their red hats and purple outfits to join Atlanta's Ladies Who Lunch for a delicious monthly serving of racy jokes, iced tea and chicken salad, baskets of sweet rolls, the latest Buckhead gossip, and most of all--lively support and caring through the ups and downs of their lives. When Diane discovers her banker husband has a condo (with mistress) that he bought with their retirement funds, the Red Hats swing into action and hang him with his own rope in a story that serves up laughter, friendship, revenge, high school memories, long-lost loves, a suburban dominatrix, and plenty of white wine and junk food. From the 1960s to the present, The Red Hat Club is a funny, unforgettable novel that shows the power women can find when they accept and support each other.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Smith's hardcover debut, Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch, was a charmer, but her newest offering falls flat. Five middle-aged women in Atlanta, former sorority sisters and now the last bastion of "civilized" (read: white and Southern) society, meet monthly to dish up gossip and drink iced tea in their red hats and purple outfits, in honor of Jenny Joseph's poem "Warning" ("When I am an old woman I shall wear purple/ With a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me"). Strictly abiding by a list of 12 time-honored rules labeled the "Sacred Traditions" ("Tradition 5: Mind your own business; Tradition 10: With the exception of alcoholic beverages, all calories shall be in chewable form"), they serve as each others' support network. When Diane's husband is discovered to be cheating on her in a condo she paid for the five decide to turn the tables on him. The plot clips along, but the characters are dislikable enough to sabotage the momentum. The Red Hatters tragic wronged wife Diane; flawlessly attired corporate bride Teeny; promiscuous divorc e SuSu; graying, happily married Linda; and narrator Georgia, a restless wife dreaming of her first love, are little more than cardboard cutouts. Their obsession with proper behavior grates on the nerves, and Georgia is overwhelmingly prissy: "the possibility annoyed the poo out of me." The flashbacks to the women's sorority days are more successful one chapter in which two of the girls, terrified of making a friend miss curfew, drive her stuck-in-reverse car five miles home backwards is a chuckler but nothing makes this disappointing effort stand out from the ranks of Rebecca Wells wannabes. Agent, Mel Berger. (Sept.) Forecast: A great jacket and title will have readers reaching for the book (released in a first printing of 50,000), but less-than-stellar word of mouth may stifle sales. Regional author tour. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

The Red Hat Club is a group of Southern women in their mid-fifties who wear red hats and purple clothes during their frequent get-togethers. Georgia, SuSu, Diane, Teeny, and Linda are more sisters than fellow club members, and what began as an underground high school sorority has evolved over the years into a collection of friends more closely knit than most families. These steel magnolias find out that Diane has been cheated on-financially and sexually-by her slimy banker husband and plan gleeful revenge. Seeing Diane's marriage fall apart also causes the others to analyze their own situations. Flashbacks give us insights into the characters of each Red Hat, and a shocker of an ending tops the whole adventure off nicely. By turns humorous and poignant, this is a novel with characters so real that even non-Southerners will find them familiar. Comparisons to the Ya-Yas are inevitable, but Smith's (Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch) feminist band, uniquely feisty and quirky, is able to hold its own. This will be a welcome addition to public library collections of all sizes.-Shelley Mosley, Glendale P.L., AZ Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

AudioFile

While the title of this novel springs from a poem about individuality (Jenny Joseph's "Warning"), its characters, the five Atlanta women of the Red Hat Club, work hard to fit a certain genteel image. The story tries to be part STEEL MAGNOLIAS, part DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD, but fails because of its flat characters, who profess to be something they clearly are not. As the friends unite to help one of their club seek revenge on a cheating husband, their adventures are punctuated by flashbacks to younger days. What has been engaging in other literary efforts is here stale, false, and slow. Anne Gartlan offers an able performance—the best that can be expected from a text that has intelligent women using phrases like "Dadgum it!" While some may find this a harmless diversion, the concept has been done better. L.B.F.
© AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews