Review: Miss Hildreth Wore Brown: Anecdotes of a Southern Belle

Author: Olivia deBelle Byrd
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
Publication date: May 1st 2010
Paperback: 156 pages
Amazon

Summary from Goodreads:

While Olivia deBelle Byrd was repeating one of her many Southern stories for the umpteenth time, her long-suffering husband looked at her with glazed over eyes and said,” Why don’t you write this stuff down?” Thus was born Miss Hildreth Wore Brown—Anecdotes of a Southern Belle. If the genesis for a book is to shut your wife up, I guess that’s as good as any. On top of that, Olivia’s mother had burdened her with one of those Southern middle names kids love to make fun. To see “deBelle” printed on the front of a book seemed vindication for all the childhood teasing. With storytelling written in the finest Southern tradition from the soap operas of Chandler Street in the quaint town of Gainesville, Georgia, to a country store on the Alabama state line, Oliviade Belle Byrd delves with wit and amusement into the world of the Deep South with all its unique idiosyncrasies and colloquialisms.

The characters who dance across the pages range from Great-Aunt LottieMae, who is as “old-fashioned and opinionated as the day is long,” to Mrs. Brewton, who calls everyone “dahling” whether they are darling or not, to Isabella with her penchant for mint juleps and drama.

Humorous anecdotes from a Christmas coffee, where one can converse with a lady who has Christmas trees with blinking lights dangling from her ears, to Sunday church, where a mink coat is mistaken for possum, will delight Southerners and baffle many a non-Southerner. There is the proverbial Southern beauty pageant, where even a six-month-old can win a tiara, to a funeral faux pas of the iron clad Southern rule—one never wears white after Labor Day and, dear gussy, most certainly not to a funeral.

Miss Hildreth Wore Brown—Anecdotes of a Southern Belle is guaranteed to provide an afternoon of laugh-out-loud reading and hilarious enjoyment.

My thoughts:
Combining Erma Bombeck’s housewife humor and Lewis Grizzard’s commentaries of the South is Olivia deBelle Byrd’s, “Miss Hildreth Wore Brown: Anecdotes of a Southern Belle”.

From the first page, we find out about Miss Hildreth and wearing the color brown (giving a whole new perspective on the book cover).

Byrd writes stories about the South and the antics of family and friends that can only make you shake your head and reminisce about your own kin.

The only thing lacking is the ability to say, “Wait until I tell you about…” because it reads like you are having a hilarious and fun conversation with the author only without the benefit of replying.

My favorite quote: Let your daughter call you crazy because, quite frankly, by the time she’s sixteen you will be.

I received a copy of this book from the author for review; I was not compensated for my opinion.

About the author

Olivia deBelle Byrd was born and bred in the South. She is a graduate of Birmingham-Southern College and a Kappa Delta.
She resides in Panama City, Florida with her husband, Tommy, and is the proud mother of Tommy Jr. and Elizabeth.

Connect with Olivia on her website: Olivia deBelle Byrd

You can also order "Miss Hildreth Wore Brown" through Ingram’s Books in Print Database, directly from the publisher at Morgan James Publishing or through the book order hotline at 800-485-4943.
For media review copies please call 1-800-485-4943 or email rick@morganjamespublishing.com