Secondhand Sister

by Rhett Devane

Mary-Esther Sloat is a woman with a patchwork past—three failed marriages, misspent youth, and a series of dead-end jobs. When she attempts to donate a kidney to her dying mother, she learns a life-altering Loretta Boudreau Day is not her biological mother. After Loretta dies, Hurricane Katrina destroys Mary-Esther’s only tie to New Orleans—her beloved Nana’s house. For a while, Mary-Esther lives in a battered Chevy van. Armed with a faded birth certificate, she finally corrals the courage to unravel the mystery of her birth at a small hospital in the panhandle of Florida. When she finds the site of the hospital, she is dismayed to learn it now houses the Gadsden County Sheriff’s office. Sergeant Jerry Blount befriends Mary-Esther and helps her locate a retired nurse who once worked at the small hospital. After meeting with the senior in a near-by assisted living facility, Mary-Esther visits the county courthouse to research records for children born on the same date. She discovers a baby girl with a similar last name—Sarah Davis of Chattahoochee, a small town in the same county. Hattie Davis Lewis lives with her husband Holston and adopted child Sarah Chuntian Lewis in the old family homestead three miles south of Chattahoochee, Florida. She often thinks of her older sister, a child also named Sarah who died shortly after birth. Hattie’s older brother Bobby Davis, wife, and son live nearby on the family land. Bobby battles his own demons that threaten his hard-won sobriety. Mary-Esther camps out in her van at a lake near Chattahoochee, hesitant to confront the family she suspects to be her own. She takes a server job at the Homeplace Restaurant in town. Hattie Davis worries about a series of anonymous phone calls and the frequent sightings of a strange van circling her driveway. Is someone casing the house? Instead of welcoming arms, Mary-Esther finds a clannish community and a brother determined to keep her from claiming her birthright. The strange and twisted journey between her old life in New Orleans and her new life in Chattahoochee forces Mary-Esther’s darkest fears and deepest longings to the surface. Is it possible to blend the person she believed she was with the person she never had the chance to be?

Genres: Fiction

261 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 30, 2015

Reviews

[Cassie Selleck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great characters and a heartwarming story. It's just good reading. Love this author's command of all things Southern, including the landscape and the voices.

[Pat Stanford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Touching

This was a very touching novel. Comfortable, as you knew Mary-Esther would settle into the family, but there was a slight doubt.

You also know that she will get the old couple's house and I figured there'd be some sort of monetarily help also since whereas so broke. (And broken).

And even when you can see all these things coming, and the relationship with Jerry, it is still a very satisfying read that you will need some Kleenex or a long sleeve for.

You will like this one. And all of other Rhett DeVane's Chatahootchee folk.

[Roberta · Rating 5 out of 5]

“A tiny brass bell jangled when Mary-Esther pushed open the glass door of the Borrowed Thyme Bakery and Eatery. As if it mattered when she entered anywhere….

Two hundred and thirteen dollars left. Shouldn’t waste a quarter. But the aroma of brewed coffee snared her, more than the smell of cooked bacon and warm cinnamon.

A man wearing a white chef’s apron appeared by her table with a carafe. Thank the saints. ‘Coffee this morning?’

Mary-Esther met his eyes. The man blanched and his hand shook. Wow. Did she look as kicked-dog as she felt?

… ‘I must look a mess.’

… ‘You remind me of someone I once knew.”

So begins author Rhett DeVane’s latest novel, Secondhand Sister which takes place in Chattahoochee, FL, home of a state mental hospital in the Florida panhandle. DeVane flawlessly weaves setting in such a way that it becomes character. Hattie Davis Lewis lives with her husband and adopted daughter Sara, named after her dead sister, in the family homestead a few miles south of Chattahoochee. This story is about Mary-Esther’s search for a family she didn’t know she had until she attempted to donate a kidney to the woman who raised her. It is also the story of Hattie’s focus on the dead sister she never knew. Added to the mix is the town’s reaction to a young woman who looks just like Hattie’s mother when she was young. For me, the ramifications of this new person appearing in town, reads like a psychological thriller. I couldn’t wait to find out what happens next in the minds of all the characters. If you like character driven stories with good plots, told with Rhett DeVane’s humor, this is the book for you. Oh, and a recipe is included in the back—a hallmark of the Chattahoochee books.

[Susan Malone · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not easy to fashion a full-length novel around a very damaged main character, as often writers descend into pathos. But under Rhett DeVane's adept pen, Mary-Esther shows equal parts grit, insecurity, wit, and courage. Even as she faces the worst in family, runs from it in fact, she's able to dig down into the soul of what makes us human. A difficult task for a writer indeed!
I laughed and cried my way through this book, as the themes played out so beautifully on the pages: loss and regret, those we've loved before and those we love today.
Plus, the secondary cast is comprised of folks who all could carry their own novels! I want Elvina as my new best friend.
Thank you, Rhett. I enjoyed this immensely!

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Secondhand Sister" by Rhett DeVane

"Secondhand Sister" is a well written, get back to the basics kind of book. Rhett's humor comes through the book to the point where you laugh. The characters in the book are so well described that they come out to meet you. It's wonderful how they get together to work together and become a great big family.

I LOVE Rhett's writing style!

Sometimes you need a book to relax with. This easy to read book is one you can do that with.

Pick up a copy and enter the world, laugh and wonder.

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fabulous read

If you enjoyed the first book, you won't want to miss this one. Is she an interloper or the sister that was long thought to be dead?

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second hand Sister Devane, Rhett 4 F *local author*set in Chattahoochee Fl woman whose house inherited from Grandmother destroyed in Hurricane Katrina figures out woman who raised her not her biological mother, goes looking for mother & family, discovers love& warm welcome after bumps from southern family in small town if she has courage to accept them 10/29/2016 10/25/2016

[John]

Very enjoyable book by local, Tallahassee, writer. About finding family and dealing with grief. Only $5 on Kindle.

[retronerd Steinkuehler · Rating 1 out of 5]

Way too 'folksy' for me. May appeal to friends of the author but most readers are not ready for this closeness to real places that are not at all interesting.