Monday, August 16, 2010

Bookend Bloggers...The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes

If you're familiar with Erin, the Blue-Eyed Bride, you'll already know about Book Beginnings and Bookends. She and another blogger have started an online bookclub and I am EXCITED. I have always wanted to belong to a bookclub, but have never had the chance.

***I am going to discuss the plot so if you are interested in reading the book, know that ahead of time! I hate when a book is ruined for me!***

The first book choice was The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes. Going into this, I had no idea what the book was about. I knew it was the book for the bookclub, so I downloaded it to my Kindle with no prior knowledge. This week our goal was to read Chapters 1-10 (we'll end the book on September 13th).

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes

In the first chapter we meet Corinne and her fiance'. This is the only chapter (of the first ten) in which they appear. There is a connection between Corinne, her fiance', and her mother to a man on trial for murder.

Chapters two through ten introduce CeeCee Wilkes. (I'm assuming at this point that CeeCee is Corinne's mother, but I don't think that we've been told that outright.) CeeCee is a sixteen-year-old waitress in North Carolina who is on her own and already out of high school. She looks like a very young girl, but is very smart and seems much older than she is. CeeCee meets Tim, a customer, and he immediately sweeps her off her feet with his charm. (I am already leery of him.)

The more we get to know Tim, the weirder the story gets. He is one of three children. His brother, Marty, is back from Vietnam and battles PTSD. The brothers live together in their parents' old home. They also have a sister, Andie, who is on death row for the murder of a photographer. The "true" story is that Andie was raped by the photographer before she murdered him, but because she didn't tell her story on trial, she was found guilty.

Tim, a graduate student in the school of social work, does not believe in the death penalty, but especially doesn't believe that his sister should die. He has joined up with a group called SCAPE and has devised a plan to get his sister out of jail. He and his brother Marty, and hopefully CeeCee as well, plan to kidnap the governor's wife. Their hope is that the governor will release Andie and they can all live underground. Remaining hidden for the rest of their lives, he says, will be better than Andie dying for something that she didn't do.

CeeCee is not certain that she wants to participate in the plot to kidnap the governor's wife, but because she would do anything to help Tim and remain with him, she goes along with it. Her feelings of hesitation are magnified when the trio goes to stay with a husband and wife who are also involved with SCAPE. The wife conveys to CeeCee her feelings of hestation at their involvement and describes how difficult life has been living underground. She also tells CeeCee how horrible things could be if CeeCee were to confess in later years.

The section ends with CeeCee awaiting Marty and Tim's return with the governor's wife. It is obvious that she regrets getting into this mess. My heart breaks for her because I just know something is going to go wrong and her whole future is going to fall apart!

I have to admit that at this point in, I'm not sure whether how much I like the book. It is a quick read and one that really takes you into the story, but I'm just not sure what I'm going to think. I really hate books that leave me feeling down in the dumps at the end and so far this one seems to maybe be one of those.

I do like CeeCee, though. She's a very relateable, realistic character. I think she has responded to this hansom, older man who has charmed her just like any other sixteen-year-old would. She is so impressionable. She so wants to be loved. Especially as a teenager who has been without a father her entire life and without a mother since she was twelve. I just feel for her.

I'm interested in where this book will go. I am intrigued by it. The style of writing, along with some of the plot are just not my cup of tea. I have an icky feeling about Tim and about the plot in general, so we'll see how it goes!

6 comments:

A Wedding Story said...

Tim is SUCH a creeper! You just want to tell CeeCee to run for the hills!

Blue-Eyed Bride said...

poor CeeCee! i just want to slap some sense into her! ;-)

Lauren said...

Loved this... I flew thru the book, and the whole time I kept thinking, oh CeeCee, get some sense, no man is worth destroying your life like this and you have a whole future ahead of you.....

Leah said...

I kept wanting to tell CeeCee to watch out for Tim too! The interesting thing is that her mom's letters warned her about the lies men tell and yet CeeCee still fell for Tim's manipulation! Ugh!

Rachel said...

So glad you're joining us :)

Karen and Gerard said...

I think I will like this book. I already want to find out what's going to happen next, whether Tim will just forget about her once the governor's wife is returned, kill her off because she knows too much, or stick with her and go underground with new identities? CeeCee needs to listen to her mother's advice and wise up!

http://ourstack.blogspot.com/2010/08/book-club-read-secret-life-of-ceecee.html