Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady
by Florence King
If you don’t know anything about the South, you’re about to get an education in Florence King’s hilarious memoir, Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady. If you are well versed in Southern manners, pride, values, behavior, and ways of talking, you’ll love this book all the more. This book is so realistic, all the characters come to life even more vividly than in a movie. The women who repeat themselves three times, the endless bragging of inherited feminine problems that result in insanity, the belief that perfectly polished silver in an otherwise sloppy house shows impeccable Southern breeding, are all laughably true.
As the author documents, she grew up in a strange household. Her domineering, coarse mother was the breadwinner; her quiet, scholarly father took the backseat. With them lived her maternal grandmother, who never officially moved in. She just came for a visit, and gradually brought over all her things. Grandma Southern Lady had definite standards of how ladies should behave, and the author walked a fine line between her grandmother and her mother, knowing she’d inevitably disappoint one and make the other proud. Some of the lessons are quite funny, but others are tragic. There is a healthy dose of sex in the pages, as is the case in most memoirs that become best-sellers, but again, it’s a mixture of comedy and drama.
Florence King’s writing style is extremely entertaining, lively, and witty. Although I didn’t love every part of her memoir, I appreciated reading it. Good writing is very hard to find, especially in the modern era! If you have certain ideas of Southern belles, you might want to skip this book. If you don’t mind enormous un-conventionalism in the 1960s and want to read about a very rebellious young lady, you’ll probably enjoy it. I gave the book to my brother, and he devoured it in a weekend, anxious for more of Ms. King’s prose!
As the author documents, she grew up in a strange household. Her domineering, coarse mother was the breadwinner; her quiet, scholarly father took the backseat. With them lived her maternal grandmother, who never officially moved in. She just came for a visit, and gradually brought over all her things. Grandma Southern Lady had definite standards of how ladies should behave, and the author walked a fine line between her grandmother and her mother, knowing she’d inevitably disappoint one and make the other proud. Some of the lessons are quite funny, but others are tragic. There is a healthy dose of sex in the pages, as is the case in most memoirs that become best-sellers, but again, it’s a mixture of comedy and drama.
Florence King’s writing style is extremely entertaining, lively, and witty. Although I didn’t love every part of her memoir, I appreciated reading it. Good writing is very hard to find, especially in the modern era! If you have certain ideas of Southern belles, you might want to skip this book. If you don’t mind enormous un-conventionalism in the 1960s and want to read about a very rebellious young lady, you’ll probably enjoy it. I gave the book to my brother, and he devoured it in a weekend, anxious for more of Ms. King’s prose!