The Tangerine Cafeteria

In the late 1930's Montgomery, Alabama, is a slow sleepy town that never heard of women's liberation or equal job opportunities. In the male-dominated downtown businesses, Miss Susie Stowers owns and manages the Tangerine Cafeteria, located right on the Court Square. The Tangerine is famous for its good food, but the real draw is Miss Susie who manages to combine home-like cooking with southern hospitality. Miss Susie welcomes all comers - local business men, women who are in town shopping, state politicians and travelers from out of town. Miss Susie's kitchen is staffed by all black personnel who are a vital part of her life, and are vital to the running of the cafeteria. The Tangerine Cafeteria tells of Miss Susie's family problems, problems shared with her by some of her customers, and the lives and problems of her hired help. Although the book is fiction, Miss Susie was a real person who lived and grew up in Montgomery and the Tangerine Cafeteria was a real place. The story is placed in Montgomery, but it could have taken place in any town in the South. Relationships and problems in the book were common to the era. The book tries to preserve a time and way of life that no longer exists. And it is a "tip of the hat" to a remarkable woman who overcame adversity and successfully made her way in a male-dominated society.