springdellgirl

Book Review #6

I read this book this weekend on the recommendation of Kelly A. I really liked it especially after all the heavier/darker books I have been reading lately. A little light chic lit was just what I needed. I finished it over a rainy weekend. I found it quite funny.

The book is about: (from the jacket)

"The Junior League of Willow Creek is tres exclusive. Undesirables need not apply. Fredrika Mercedes Hildebrand Ware is a member beyond reproach...until her life begins to unravel. When her husband betrays her, steals her money, and runs off to places unknown, it's something Frede would prefer to keep under wraps. The last thing she needs is to become fodder for the Junior League gossip mill".

This book is very funny and written totally tongue-in-cheek and over the top. But if you've spent any time in Texas you know that there are people alot like this...over the top characters. I LOVE THEM! You know how I like to "liken" books to my own life...so here it goes...

I used to totally want to be in the Junior League!! Sounds horrible I know!! I'm cringing too. When I lived in Kansas City I lived in an affluent area and my best friend Mary's mother was in it and completely gung-ho! She used to talk about it all the time and try to sell Mary and I on joining some day. Mary's parents also belonged to the country club and we used to go swimming there all the time and layout, have lunch, and get drinks brought to us poolside and sign everything to her dad's account. I thought it was seriously the life!!

Then we moved to Houston and I envied that lifestyle even more. I worked for two summers at a place called Chambrel in the Woodlands (Stac and Kell worked there too). It was basically a very ritzy upscale retirement community for BIG MONEY. The residents lived in cottages, rode around in golf carts, and had a big old black cadillac with a driver to take them anywhere they wanted. It also had "apartments" for those that wanted them and then when you got sick and feeble you would move to the assisted living building with their own dining room and everything.

My sisters and I were "waitresses"...I use that term very loosely because we were truly horrible. We learned to wait tables at Chambrel. The "restaurant" part was amazing. Gourmet 4-star chef, 2 dining rooms (the formal one that you had to "dress" for dinner and over looked a pretty pond/lake thing and the Veranda Room that was more casual). The dining rooms were open to the public for Dinner Theatre and the food was so amazing it makes my stomach growl just thinking about it: Seafood crepes, Tortilla Soup, Triple Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Chess Pie, Sweet Potato Pie, Eddie's Famous Banana Bread (We got to eat for free and EAT WE DID!) It was there that I encountered my first "Southern Ladies"...living at Chambrel there were ex-politicans, famous musicans, important people and the extremely RICH...like Mr. and Mrs. Forbes for instance.

I love southern ladies...dewy skin, colored hair, perfectly manicured nails, jewels and their southern drawls. Everything was "Sugar this...and Darlin that". I was called by everyone "Miss Kris" and they loved to give me tips on how to be more of a "lady". I loved the line in the book that said "A Texas woman can tell you to go to hell, and make you think you're going to enjoy the trip". So true!

It then goes on to say:

"...It's not that in Texas women don't have opinions or share them. We do. It's just that we wrap them up in honey and smiles and hugs until a sharp rebuke can feel like a compliment, the true meaning not sinking in until later, hitting like a left hook to the jaw".

I remember being told many times things like "Miss Kris a lady doen't chew gum. It's vulgar", "Miss Kris a lady doesn't use the word c-r-a-p. It's very coarse", "Listen sugar...you NEVER serves a gentleman before a lady. It's common" and about a million other things I learned that a lady never does!! I was also taught the difference between being rich (old money) and being rich (nouveau riche)...which by the way was "vulgar"!! :)

This book reminded me of those southern ladies that I knew long ago. I rate this book as: GOOD with a disclaimer...if you are looking for serious literature...don't read it. But if you are looking for a funny book to read at the lake or poolside...you'll like it.