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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Fusco, Kimberly Newton

The Secret of Honeycake

368 pp. | Knopf | January, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9780593121771 $17.99 | Library ISBN 9780593121788 $20.99 | Ebook ISBN 9780593121795 $10.99
(2) 4-6 In this novel set during the Great Depression, protagonist Hurricane, like the eye of the storm that raged during her birth, has a quiet center. She is shy, hesitant, and often unable to speak up among classmates and strangers. With her father killed in WWI and her mother dead from tuberculosis, Hurricane lives in the family's remote coastal home with her beloved dog and her older sister, Bronte. But when Bronte also contracts tuberculosis and must go to a sanitarium, life changes. Hurricane's great-aunt Claire swoops in from the city and takes the girl to live with her and her kind, multi-talented chauffeur/cook/housekeeper, Mr. Keats. Having married into money, Aunt Claire adopted many highfalutin ways to appease her now-deceased husband and now wants to force Hurricane into the mold of "proper" young lady -- an image far removed from the girl's freer spirit. When Mr. Keats discovers a stray cat, he and Hurricane slowly coax it into trusting them, a clear metaphor for the protagonist's gradual acceptance of her new home, an acceptance not coincidently accompanied by the realization that she can speak for herself. Fusco takes her time developing the Depression-era setting and the backgrounds of each character, giving this heartwarming novel depth and authenticity.
Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2025

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