The Cherry Cola Book Club

In a small Mississippi town, librarian Maura Beth Mayhew starts a book club to save the local library and winds up helping her regular patrons in unexpected ways.

The library in the colorful little town of Cherico, Mississippi, is frequently in danger of closing—first due to lack of use and then thanks to politicians who’d rather fund their own agendas. Happily, upbeat and persistent librarian Maura Beth Mayhew is always working to save the day. She steps up to make the library central to town life by hosting potluck suppers and book discussion groups where all topics are welcome—secret dreams, long-lost love, and, yes, what patrons’ lives have in common with literary classics from To Kill a Mockingbird to War and Peace. This charming series follows Maura Beth as she raises the library’s profile, dispenses practical advice and words of comfort, and finds her own love story. Listeners will celebrate holidays, special occasions, and everyday life with the delightful people of Cherico and revel in Maura Beth’s triumphs: getting a new, cutting-edge library built on the shores of Lake Cherico and building a fresh sense of community.

Winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones and Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Awards, Marguerite Gavin gives voice and vitality to Cherico’s quirky and endearing characters. The narrator’s Southern drawl, deft portrayals, and dry wit make listening a pleasure. With Gavin as their guide, listeners will feel right at home in this warm, small community.

Ashton Lee was born in Natchez, Mississippi, and raised in an extended family that provided him with plenty of inspiration for his works of fiction. His best-selling and best known series, The Cherry Cola Book Club was also inspired by his day job as a publisher’s rep/book vendor to public libraries in six Southern states. “An author should always write what he or she knows best,” Lee affirmed in an interview. “So I decided to write an entertaining series about the problems libraries have, hoping to become a national advocate for them as necessary, educational community resources.”