The Madhatter's Guide to Chocolate

Welcome to the town of Chattahoochee, Florida. Imagine living down the road from a mental institution and growing up in a world still drenched in the traditions of the South.

For Hattie Davis, she couldn't wait to get away. Returning home for her mother's funeral, she is drawn in by the arrival of a dear and flamboyant childhood friend, Jake Witherspoon. Despite the unfortunate situation that has brought them together, a memoir of an old family friend inspires them to join forces and take the town by storm.

Yet their new entrepreneurial lives are brutally interrupted when Jake is kidnapped and beaten by two local teenage boys. Apparently, the discovery of Jake's homosexuality comes easier for Hattie than some others. This touching tale of a Southern town's revival and a woman's coming of age--even over the hill--is something you will laugh, cry and cheer over.

Interwoven with an air of magical realism, The Madhatter's Guide to Chocolate is a rich tale of small town humor, tragedy, and the extraordinary twists of fate. Take a trip through the looking glass and come home to the South.

Rhett DeVane is a true Southerner, born and raised in the piney woods of the North Florida panhandle. Originally from Chattahoochee, Florida, she now lives in Tallahassee where she is completing a series of Southern fiction novels. Rhett is owned by two cats, Sisko and Saki, and a rescued Florida Cracker Retriever named Shelly.