Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady by Florence King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is a testament to why we need to have shops. I know it’s so much easier to buy a book with one click on Amazon but you can never replace the joy of perusing a book shop’s crammed shelves and coming across a book that you had not heard of. The cover and the testimonials sell it to you, this is what happened to me, whilst checking out the books in our fav book shop, in Russell Square I came across this classic.
Yesterday I spent pretty much the whole day devouring it, almost in one sitting (I never do this). Liz was asking what we would like to do with the day and do you know I just wanted to hang out in Florence’s world, which let me tell you is a pretty interesting place to reside. Born to a chain smoking mother and very intelligent bookish English father she was off to a very interesting start. Then throw in a Grandmother, who was obsessed with gynecology and her ancestry and you have the makings of a classic. This is set in the ‘deep south’ of America, an area I know nothing of really, except what you see on the TV. Florence brought it to life, the characters are so real, you feel by the end of the book that you actually know them.
Her tale is one of being different in her world, right from the start but not really knowing why, She is different in lots of ways, her father has educated her well before her years, and she is used to being with adults, so when she is thrown into kindergarten it is a hell on earth for her.
I won’t spoil the book but all I can say is, it had me gripped from the start, is hilarious in places and also, very poignant! Go out and get yourself a copy today!
