Aug. 25, 2010
BOOK REVIEW: Susan Gregg Gilmore Shines with Southern Semi-Gothic Novel 'The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove'
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
Nobody tells stories better than a good Southern writer at his or her best. I speak as a Yankee (Michigan and Illinois) English major, but one who lived for 16 years in a more or less Southern state -- West Virginia -- and who currently lives in another state -- Texas -- that has elements of both the South and the West.
If there is such a thing as a Southern Semi-Gothic -- a phrase I just made up -- Susan Gregg Gilmore has created one in her new novel "The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove" (Shaye Areheart Books/Crown Publishing Group, 256 pages, $23.00). I call it a "semi-gothic" because it doesn't have any actual horror elements, although it comes pretty close at times. I won't reveal much of the plot, believing that this spoils the book for a reader. I will state my objections to Gilmore's characterizations later in this review.
Nobody in Nashville, Tenn. has a bigger name to live up to than Bezellia Grove. As a Grove, she belongs to one of city’s most prominent families and is expected to embrace her position in high society. That means speaking fluent French, dancing at cotillions with boys from other important families, and mastering the art of the perfect smile.
Also looming large is her given name Bezellia, which has been passed down for generations to the first daughter born to the eldest Grove. The others in the long line of Bezellias shortened the ancestral name to Bee, Zee or Zell. But Bezellia refuses all nicknames and dreams that one day she, too, will be remembered for her original namesake’s courage and passion.
Though she leads a life of privilege, being a Grove is far from easy. Her mother, Elizabeth Morgan Grove, comes from a lower socio-economic level and has married up to the prominent Grove family level. Elizabeth hides her drinking but her alcoholism is hardly a secret. She's also clinically depressed. She doesn't like Bezellia's unusual name and calls her "sister."
Her husband, Dr. Charles Goodman Grove V, spends long hours at work, and is distant and inaccessible. For all practical purposes, Bezellia's been raised by Maizelle, the live-in nanny, and Nathaniel, the handyman, who also drives Elizabeth around in her Cadillac. Both are African-Americans and despite the racial divide in segregated Nashville, to Bezellia Louise Grove, Maizelle and Nathaniel are cherished family members. To her parents -- especially her mother -- they will never be more than servants.
Relationships are complicated in 1960s Nashville, where society remains neatly ordered by class, status and skin color. Black servants aren’t supposed to eat at the same table as their white employers. Black boys aren’t supposed to make conversation with white girls. And they certainly aren’t supposed to fall in love.
As I indicated earlier, the writing of Susan Gregg Gilmore is excellent. My problem is that the African-Americans in the novel are so close to sainthood as to be almost unbelievable. The whites are painted "warts and all" as Oliver Cromwell insisted to his portrait painter, and -- because of this -- are more interesting. Maizelle and Nathaniel don't rebell or respond to Elizabeth Grove's tantrums and cruel treatment, although Maizelle comes close.
Despite this quibble, I recommend "The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove" as a great book to take to the beach. The characters in the novel travel to Destin, Florida, in the Sunshine's State "Redneck Riviera" -- or they visit Old Hickory Lake east of Nashville, as Bezellia does to visit her maternal grandparents. The lake boasts a white sand beach, courtesy of Florida's Panhandle and the Army Corps of Engineers. Go thou and do likewise.
About the author
Susan Gregg Gilmore, also the author of Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen (what a wonderful title!) was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1961. Her mother is a painter, and her father was the son of a revival-bred preacher, a rich storyteller, and an insurance executive whose work moved his family across the country. But every summer, he brought his four children back to their native Tennessee to fish, swim, catch lighting bugs and grow the perfect tomato. A graduate of the University of Virginia, with a master's degree from the University of Texas, Gilmore has written for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the Los Angeles Times, and the Chrisitan Science Monitor. She and her family now live in Nashville. Her website: www.susangregggilmore.com.
Publisher's website: www.crownpublishing.com
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BOOK REVIEW: Susan Gregg Gilmore Shines with Southern Semi-Gothic Novel 'The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove'
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
Nobody tells stories better than a good Southern writer at his or her best. I speak as a Yankee (Michigan and Illinois) English major, but one who lived for 16 years in a more or less Southern state -- West Virginia -- and who currently lives in another state -- Texas -- that has elements of both the South and the West.
If there is such a thing as a Southern Semi-Gothic -- a phrase I just made up -- Susan Gregg Gilmore has created one in her new novel "The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove" (Shaye Areheart Books/Crown Publishing Group, 256 pages, $23.00). I call it a "semi-gothic" because it doesn't have any actual horror elements, although it comes pretty close at times. I won't reveal much of the plot, believing that this spoils the book for a reader. I will state my objections to Gilmore's characterizations later in this review.
Nobody in Nashville, Tenn. has a bigger name to live up to than Bezellia Grove. As a Grove, she belongs to one of city’s most prominent families and is expected to embrace her position in high society. That means speaking fluent French, dancing at cotillions with boys from other important families, and mastering the art of the perfect smile.
Also looming large is her given name Bezellia, which has been passed down for generations to the first daughter born to the eldest Grove. The others in the long line of Bezellias shortened the ancestral name to Bee, Zee or Zell. But Bezellia refuses all nicknames and dreams that one day she, too, will be remembered for her original namesake’s courage and passion.
Though she leads a life of privilege, being a Grove is far from easy. Her mother, Elizabeth Morgan Grove, comes from a lower socio-economic level and has married up to the prominent Grove family level. Elizabeth hides her drinking but her alcoholism is hardly a secret. She's also clinically depressed. She doesn't like Bezellia's unusual name and calls her "sister."
Her husband, Dr. Charles Goodman Grove V, spends long hours at work, and is distant and inaccessible. For all practical purposes, Bezellia's been raised by Maizelle, the live-in nanny, and Nathaniel, the handyman, who also drives Elizabeth around in her Cadillac. Both are African-Americans and despite the racial divide in segregated Nashville, to Bezellia Louise Grove, Maizelle and Nathaniel are cherished family members. To her parents -- especially her mother -- they will never be more than servants.
Relationships are complicated in 1960s Nashville, where society remains neatly ordered by class, status and skin color. Black servants aren’t supposed to eat at the same table as their white employers. Black boys aren’t supposed to make conversation with white girls. And they certainly aren’t supposed to fall in love.
As I indicated earlier, the writing of Susan Gregg Gilmore is excellent. My problem is that the African-Americans in the novel are so close to sainthood as to be almost unbelievable. The whites are painted "warts and all" as Oliver Cromwell insisted to his portrait painter, and -- because of this -- are more interesting. Maizelle and Nathaniel don't rebell or respond to Elizabeth Grove's tantrums and cruel treatment, although Maizelle comes close.
Despite this quibble, I recommend "The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove" as a great book to take to the beach. The characters in the novel travel to Destin, Florida, in the Sunshine's State "Redneck Riviera" -- or they visit Old Hickory Lake east of Nashville, as Bezellia does to visit her maternal grandparents. The lake boasts a white sand beach, courtesy of Florida's Panhandle and the Army Corps of Engineers. Go thou and do likewise.
About the author
Susan Gregg Gilmore, also the author of Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen (what a wonderful title!) was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1961. Her mother is a painter, and her father was the son of a revival-bred preacher, a rich storyteller, and an insurance executive whose work moved his family across the country. But every summer, he brought his four children back to their native Tennessee to fish, swim, catch lighting bugs and grow the perfect tomato. A graduate of the University of Virginia, with a master's degree from the University of Texas, Gilmore has written for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the Los Angeles Times, and the Chrisitan Science Monitor. She and her family now live in Nashville. Her website: www.susangregggilmore.com.
Publisher's website: www.crownpublishing.com
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