'They’re not so good if you’re the person who had to live through them.' 'These are good stories if you’re an author,' Horst said. Martin’s Press failed to exercise ordinary care when they published the book. Stewart’s attorney, Jeffrey Horst, claims that it is difficult to tell fact from fiction, and that St. The book, set in Atlanta, is the story of five women who have been friends for more than 30 years since high school and team up to get revenge on a philandering husband.

Martin’s Press, the company that published both 'The Red Hat Club' and its sequel, 'The Red Hat Club Rides Again,' for defamation and invasion of privacy. In his opening statements to a Hall County jury Tuesday, Attorney Tom Clyde described 'The Red Hat Club' as a humorous, 'light-hearted novel' with an 'utterly implausible plot' that could not be considered a truthful account.īut attorneys for Smith’s childhood acquaintance, Vickie Stewart, told jurors there are nearly 30 similarities between their client and one of the novel’s predominant characters, a sexually promiscuous alcoholic named 'SuSu.' Author Haywood Smith smiled Tuesday when her attorney said parts of her book read like scenes from the 50’s-era television series 'I Love Lucy.'

The red hat club rides again