Dollbaby

A bighearted Southern coming-of-age novel set in Civil Rights-era New Orleans—about family, faith, the secrets we keep, and the decisions that change our lives.

 

When Ibby Bell’s father dies in a tragic accident in the summer of 1964, her mother deposits Ibby in New Orleans with her eccentric grandmother Fannie, and throws in her father’s urn for good measure. Fannie’s rundown Victorian mansion is like no place Ibby has ever been, and Fannie—who has a tendency to end up in the local asylum everyone in a while—is like no one she has every met. Fannie’s black cook, Queenie, has run Fannie’s household since it was Fannie’s household, and her daughter, Dollbaby, has big dreams and an even bigger mouth. Between them, Queenie and Dollbaby take it upon themselves to initiate Ibby into the ways of the South, both its grand traditions and its darkest secrets.

 

For Fannie’s own family history is fraught with tragedy, hidden behind the closed doors in her ornate Uptown mansion. It will take Ibby’s arrival to begin to unlock the mysteries there. And it will take Queenie and Dollbaby’s hard won wisdom to show Ibby that, sometimes, family can be found in the least expected places.

 

Told through the eyes of a young girl learning to understand race for the very first time, Dollbaby is a love letter to New Orleans—bringing to life a city in the midst of civil Key Selling Points Summary rights-era unrest. Uplifting, poignant and full of verve, Dollbaby is a glimpse into a sparkling world that readers will take to their hearts.