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Your next favorite book
is waiting.
by Daphne Simpkins
From the author of Lovejoy and Blessed comes a series about church ladies of the South. After reading this first novel in the series, fans of Southern fiction write, "I want to live next door to Mildred Budge."
A retired school teacher, Mildred Budge just wants to live a quiet life in her hometown of Cloverdale. But retirement does not mean she can say no to a friend--not a friend in trouble. A disciplined woman, Mildred can breathe the word "no" to a second cup of ice cream. Can resist drinking too much champagne. But when it comes right down to a friend needing a favor, she may say no first, but if someone really needs her—really needs her! —she always said yes.
That's how Mildred ended up with strangers camped out in her spare bedroom while helping her friend Fran launch a new business at the antique emporium.
The only real 'no' Mildred had said in recent history was to a man who loved her. Hugh wasn't the first man to pursue her. But he was the most recent. And she had been flattered but not interested—not in the way the widower wanted her to be interested.
Hugh didn't give up right away. He lodged himself near her at church. Found her in the church kitchen after a fellowship supper to aid in the clean-up. And finally, her would-be lover just asked her to say 'yes' to him outright. That was the moment when Mildred had to say a final 'no.'
Only her best friend Fran understood. Fran said when Mildred finally felt the regretful effects of that no, "We're all of us such fools." But they aren't fools. Mildred Budge and her friends are just people trying to live inside the faith released from heaven through the One who didn't say no. This is the first novel in the series about Mildred Budge and her friends—just ordinary people trying to live out an extraordinary hope available to anyone who realizes what kind of help he or she really needs. That hope has a name, and Mildred Budge knows it. Need hope? Need a friend?
Mildred Budge is a very good friend. If you like spending time with people who are ordinary but extraordinarily hopeful, then you'll love this story. Get a copy of this first novel in the series and find out for yourself what church ladies really think.
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This information about Mildred Budge in Cloverdale was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Daphne Simpkins has been writing about life in the South for over 20 years but recently began to explore the dimensions of Southern church women through her fictional character Mildred Budge. Many Mildred Budge short adventures have been published in the U.S. and Canada and in the short story collection Miss Budge In Love. In addition to the Miss Budge books and stories, Ms. Simpkins has written The Long Good Night, a memoir about caregiving and a follow-up to that book, What Al Left Behind. She recently published a memoir masquerading as a cookbook for new brides, A Cookbook for Katie. The next addition to the Mildred Budge novels is Embankment, which will be followed by The Bride's Room. A long-time adjunct English teacher at Auburn University Montgomery, Ms. Simpkins is an active member of the speakers' bureau sponsored by The Alabama Humanities Foundation. For more information, visit www.DaphneSimpkins.com
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