Ida Mae Tutweiler and the Traveling Tea Party

By: Ginnie Siena Bivona

Narrated by: Riva Nelson

The book opens with Ida Mae Tutweiler preparing for a tea-time visit with her lifelong best friend, Jane Tetly. Jane and Ida Mae are an unlikely pair; Jane is a glamorous actress in a day-time soap opera, much married, and naturally adventurous. Ida Mae is reserved and steady, a successful businesswoman. She owns a charming Victorian tearoom called Ladyfingers, in the town she was born in. She has never left Walton Falls, Ohio, nor does she care to. She is content to let Jane be her window on the world. And Jane needs Ida Mae's steadfast love, her anchor in a whirlwind life. Jane is rhinestones and red chiffon and Ida Mae is a simple well-worn navy blue suit.

Woven through the pages is the story of Ida Mae's life, her failed first marriage to her high-school boyfriend, the tragic death of her beloved Mum shortly before the birth of her adored daughter Kate, and the somewhat less than gracious support of her haughty Aunt Germaine. There is a passionate love affair that ends badly when her lover refuses to file for a divorce from his separated wife. And there is the satisfying and hilarious ending of her Cousin Bernadette's abusive marriage.

But throughout it all there is her beloved Jane, flashing in and out of Walton Falls "like a comet, trailing stars and small planets in her wake". Jane arrives in a whirl of expensive gifts and the two women settle down for tea. But the visit is not what Ida Mae expects, because Jane tells her that she has breast cancer that has progressed beyond help and she is going away to die. Ida Mae is stunned, and desperate...how can she live without her Jane?

How Ida Mae deals with this terrible news, and the wonderful events she creates for her dearest friend before she must leave is the warp of this story, woven in and out with the threads of their past taken from the pages of Ida Mae's diary.

Written for today's woman, the book celebrates the relationship between best friends, mothers and daughters, men and women, and the struggle to find hope in a time of loss. It's the tender story of two beautiful women, discovering what their lives were all about, before they must say a final goodbye.

Brew up a nice hot cup of Earl Grey tea, grab a box of Kleenex, curl up in a quiet corner and enjoy a different kind of love story.

©2001 Ginnie Siena Bivona (P)2012 Ginnie Siena Bivona