MAMA SADIE: A Quaker Cafe Novel

by Brenda Bevan Remmes

Sadie Baker, retired owner of the local grocery store, goes ballistic when the elected officials of Cedar Branch approve a project to build a hazardous waste incinerator within the town limits. Concerned for the health of her grandchildren, Mama Sadie becomes an outspoken opponent of the proposal. She is greeted with an unexpected backlash. Even her grown boys profess to see new industry as a potential gain for the local economy. With wit, conviction, and audacity, she refuses to back down. Her two sons regard her with growing concern as each effort to block the siting becomes more outrageous. What will Mama do next?

Genres: Fiction

265 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 19, 2018

Reviews

[Barbara White · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a hazardous waste company plans to build a sizable plant within town limits, passions split families and neighborhoods in the town of Cedar Branch. Leading the charge against the facility is Sadie Baker, an engaging-dare I say, ballsy?-older heroine. On the other side, her two grown sons. For anyone who enjoys small town Southern culture with a hearty dose of local activism, this is your next book club pick. Books rarely get more relevant than MAMA SADIE.

[Maryann Forbes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was drawn to Mama Sadie because I loved Brenda Bevan Remmes’ book,
The Quaker Cafe. I didn’t enjoy Mama Sadie as much-perhaps because it didn’t generate the same emotional response as The Quaker Cafe did. However as I found myself thinking about it after finishing, I realized it was a very satisfying read.
Mama Sadie takes place in Northeastern North Carolina in the small town, population less than 600, of Cedar Branch. It’s late fall in 1996 when former grocery store and losing candidate for Mayor, Sadie Baker hears that there are plans to build a waste management in her beloved Cedar Branch.
She is incensed and immediately springs into action to stop this contamination in her town.
As with most extremely controversial community issue there were those against, and those in favor of the incinerator project, each side with valid concerns. As in Sadie’s case, it can even pit family members against each other. Mama Sadie illustrates how divisive a community can become, yet also the strength of community action and how it can bring about change. Positive change, yet change that may take time to heal. A good and timely read, relevant in these challenging times.

[Patricia Dabbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engrossing

Brenda has yet another winner in her Cedar Branch series. It's a remarkable story based on facts with colorful characters who have the courage to fight big business and government to save their way of life.