Waking Up in Dixie A Novel [Paperback]

From theNew York Timesbest-selling author ofThe Red Hat Clubcomes a hilarious story of marriage and love and second chances.

When Elizabeth Mooney escaped the shame of her white trash family to marry Howell Whittington, the crown prince of her small town, she never dreamed that thirty years later, she'd end up trapped in a loveless marriage to the cruel banker who's foreclosing on all her friends. Then Howe has a stroke in church, and when he wakes up, he's at the mercy of all his appetites and emotions, telling the truth with no filters. Transformed, Howe wants to be a real husband, which scares the socks off proper, repressed Elizabeth. Setting out to right past wrongs, Howe blackmails the town's baddies into doing the right thing. The ensuing hilarious roller-coaster ride wakes up not only Elizabeth and their marriage but the whole town and its hidebound institutions. Haywood Smith's sharp wit and keen observations about men, mothers-in-law, marriage, and small-town Southern living will having you laughing and reading long into the night.

Haywood Smith is theNew York TimesandUSA Todaybest-selling author ofThe Red Hat ClubandThe Red Hat Club Rides Again.She lives in Buford, Georgia.

Smith's zesty read-in-one-sitting romp promises to delight loyal fans and garner new ones. Booklist

Smith shakes up the midlife marriage renewal subgenre with the emotionally complex tale of Elizabeth Whittington.... Elizabeth's struggles feel real ... and the way Smith ... leaves Elizabeth to pursue or abandon her marriage on her own terms is a refreshing departure from convention. Publishers Weekly

...going to elicit both chuckles and tears. RT Book Reviews, 4 1/2 stars