Southern Lit, Pick of the Week #2, Miss Hildreth Wore Brown

Miss Hildreth Wore Brown was a quick little read that I soaked up one afternoon and thought y’all (all Belles in your hearts, right?) would enjoy. Of course, I had to read it when I saw on the book jacket, “With storytelling written in the finest Southern traditions from the soap operas of Candler Street in the quaint town of Gainesville, Ga….” See, we moved from Gainesville just a few months ago. It was too tempting!

This is my favorite type of book to pass a few hours, full of pithy Southern Anecdotes laced with just enough truth. My accent just gets thicker from the reading! It is the kind of book that makes you wonder if someone hasn’t watched YOUR Southern family and decided to write their observations down – the good, the bad and the truly nutty. Miss Hildreth Wore Brown is the author’s first book and she claims that she wrote it because her husband ("long suffering husband" – her words, not mine!) told her to write her stories down as he had apparently heard them a time or two enough. She is a true Southern Belle, and how can you not love a Belle who lists her sorority affiliation in the first line of her bio( Olivia deBelle Byrd)?

I found myself chuckling throughout the book, and no more than in the section where Mrs. Byrd talks about worrying about her children. I was practically rolling when she described what she worried about when her daughter went off to college: “Do I worry about her eating right or getting enough sleep? No, I worry because I don’t think she shaves her legs often enough. One time I sent her a postcard from France. It didn’t say “Having a great time. Wish you were here.” It just said, “Shave your legs!” Deep down, the main reason I was glad she got a boyfriend, I figure she would shave her legs more often.” Now, if that isn’t a true Southern Momma, I don’t know what is. Of course, I may relate to this a little more than some, as I told my daughter when she went to college that if she became one of those girls who wore their jammies to class (yes, they do that now…everywhere) I would cut off her allowance – and I was (am) serious. So, if you are in need of a Southern infusion pick up a copy of Miss Hildreth Wore Brown, you will enjoy!

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