At the tender age of 16 Belle is passionately in love with Claude Cantrell, and very soon afterwords comes to find herself a young mother and bride. Claude is called off to war leaving his wife and daughter to live on the family farm with his mother, Miss Effie. Upon his return home, he is murdered, and Belle feels herself responsible. Talk about a bad day!
After a few years of recovery from Claude's death, Belle starts to set her sights on advancing the rights and roles of women. As with all great new periods in our lives as women, it begins with a fabulous new hair cut. She begins this journey of promoting the "fairer sex" by getting her hair bobbed, buying a cloche, and attending suffragette meetings. I think from the get-go Belle knew the rules of society as she was practically raised by the well-bred and proper Miss Effie; however, I feel that she finds the execution of said rules a bit harder to carry out and somewhat unsavory to her free spirit.
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The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell: A Novel |
The bob is just the beginning of Belle beginning to live her life as a liberated and unfettered woman. She and her unsinkable spirit woos the eligible bachelor Rafe Berlin (who just so happens to be her best friends' brother). He is down in Gentry from Chicago to help the Rubenstien family get their business streamlined and in tip-top shape. Part of this involves collecting old debts from some of Gentry's oldest families. This, in addition to an unwillingness to accept the fact that times were changing, irks the ire of the newly re-established Gentry chapter of the KKK. One of the other ways in which Belle outwardly bucks society (other than kissing a man in public and wearing her form-fitting riding breeches right into the middle of town) is to takeover the position of "foreman" and to work the fields of her very large family farm once the infamous Bouree LeBlanc is dismissed from that position. Some of the controversial issues of the time that are addressed in Mrs. Despres' second novel include her characters dealing with racism, birth control, prohibition, adultery, woman's suffrage, even the mention of free love.
Throughout this delightfully twisting tale of friendship, love, determination, and the idea of standing up for what one thinks is right we see our heroine not only endeavor to take on the world and to pass the benefits on to future generations, but also we see her inspire others to stand up for themselves and for what's right. Another thing that I love about this book is Belle's ongoing references to the "Primer of Propriety" and the "Southern Girls' Guide to Men and Other Perils of Modern Life." They are the "literary"version of the "good angel / bad angel" that reside on each of our shoulders. They also exhibit the contrast between the small town old guard and the new, brash generation that came behind them almost as dramatically as the characters of Miss Effie (who refers to automobiles as "a good time house on wheels") and Belle (who was caught making out in a closet at a party by her daughter), and I found them quite entertaining and even practical for many situations.
All in all, I'd say it was a good read! Loraine does a great job of making her characters easy to relate to and describing her settings well. I felt myself grow frustrated with some of the things Belle felt encumbering her and found myself thinking Rafe was a hottie. I even felt a sense of pride when the girls got the final count from the senate and gained the right to vote. I think in some ways this book is "tamer" than Sissy's Scandalous Summer, and I enjoyed it from cover to cover! I think you should do the same.
Summer is upon us, stay cool!
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