I STILL DREAM ABOUT YOU

I STILL DREAM ABOUT YOU by Fannie Flagg

From the book jacket:

Meet Maggie Fortenberry, a still beautiful former Miss Alabama.  To others, Maggie's life seems practically perfect - she's lovely, charming, and a successful real estate agent at Red Mountain Realty.  Still, Maggie can't help but wonder how she wound up in her present condition.  She had been on her hopeful way to becoming Miss America and realizing her childhood dream of someday living in one of the elegant old homes on top of Red Mountain, with the adoring husband and the 2.5 children, but then something unexpected happened and changed everything.

Maggie graduated at the top of her class at charm school, can fold a napkin in more than forty-eight different and interesting ways, and can enter and exit a car gracefully, but all the finesse in the world cannot help her now.  Since the legendary real estate dynamo Hazel Whisenknott, founder of Red Mountain Realty, died five years ago, business has gone from bad to worse - and the future isn't looking much better.  But just when things seem completely hopeless, Maggie suddenly comes up with the perfect plan to solve it all.

As Maggie prepares to put her plan into action, we meet the cast of high-spirited characters around her.  To Brenda Peoples, Maggie's best friend and real estate partner, Maggie's life seems easy as pie:  Slender Maggie doesnt have to worry about her figure, or about her Weight Watchers sponsor catching her at the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop.  And Ethel Clipp, Red Mountian's ancient and grumpy office manager with the bright purple hair, thinks the world of Maggie but has absolutely nothing nice to say about their rival Babs "The Beast of Birmingham" Bingington, the unscrupulous real estate agent who hates Maggie and is determined to put her out of business. 

Maggie has heartbreaking secrets in her past, but through a strange turn of events she soon discovers, quite by accident, that everybody, it seems - dead or alive - has at least one little secret.

It's been about four years since a new Fannie Flagg book has been released.  This one is charming.  A cast of funny characters, including a midget and a mysterious set of twins from the past, is included and all have an effect on Maggie and her plans.  I loved the scene where Maggie and Babs had a few too many Pink Squirrels and Maggie told Babs exactly what she thought of her.

This was a quick, easy read - just right for this busy time of the year.