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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oustanding historical novel, September 29, 2005
The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell is an outstanding novel that brings to life the small towns of Louisiana in the 1920s. I found the book a fascinating study of the time period when religious hypocrisy was clashing with such radical ideas as women's suffrage. It also treats the subject of anti-Semitism in the South in a very nuanced way, showing how prejudice can cut both ways. The parallels to today with the rise of the religious right and renewed racial tensions are profound. But aside from that, the book is a page-turner romp in the witty, sultry life of a headstrong woman trying to make her way in the oppressive world of the small town 1920s Louisiana and succeeding.
Don't pay any attention to the Publisher's Weekly review, written by someone who clearly did not read the book, not even the first page. That review said: "The book opens with Belle confessing she feels no guilt for `killing' her husband of 16 years, Claude". The book actually opens as follows: "Belle Cantrell felt guilty about killing her husband and she hated that." Also, the review said: "Despres's galloping prose and Belle's consistent liveliness effectively cover the lack of much else, including the substance in the predictably dashing but dangerous Mr. LeBlanc, the man who becomes Sissy's grandfather." Well, if the reviewer had bothered to read the book, he or she would have found that Mr. LeBlanc was unpredictably dastardly in an understandably small-minded and self-serving way and is one of the books villains and was not Sissy's grandfather. Sissy's grandfather was Claude, Belle's husband of 16 years.
I highly recommend this book as study of an historically fascinating time with clear lessons for today and for simply being a damn fine read.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
READ WITH VIM, VIGOR, AND DETERMINATION, October 5, 2005
Ever think about what was considered "bad behavior" in the early 20th century, and what might be considered scandalous doings now? Quite a difference, isn't there? Today Belle Cantrell would be considered well behaved but in 1920 in Gentry, Louisiana, she raised many an eyebrow when she bobbed her hair.
Talk had barely died down about her new haircut when she spent time in the pokey for swimming in an inappropriate bathing costume. Belle, Belle, what will you be up to next? Well, as it turns out almost anything because this gal had a backbone of steel, and no patience for the prejudices of small town Louisiana. She believed women should vote, and the Ku Klux Klan should be tarred and feathered.
On top of all that she sees nothing wrong with having male married friends. After all, she is unmarried and a person does need company from time to time.
Performer Zoe Thomas reads with vim, vigor and determination, giving Belle an unforgettable voice.
- Gail Cooke
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT FOR BOOK CLUBS!, December 26, 2005
If Chick Lit isn't your thing, disregard the cover and marketing of The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell. It's worth reading and it's worth discussing with your book club.
Author Loraine Despres is so celebrated for having written the "Who Shot JR?" episode of Dallas that those familiar with her work might anticipate a southern soap opera in the form of a book. But Belle Cantrell, while being a southern bell, is also a symbol for some of the issues we are still wrestling with in the 21st century in America.
In the 1980s you couldn't get on an airplane without seeing a paperback version of Michael Creighton's The Rising Sun in a traveler's hands. Despres may have had the same goal that Creighton did in writing and packaging her book. Both books are palatable and have broad mass appeal and both are built on cautionary tales that can't be missed through all the intrigue of the characters. Creighton deals with the economic threat of China to the United States. Despres deals with the decency of the human spirit in the United States.
This is a prequel to Despres' best seller The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc. In writing her latest novel, Despres seems to be interested in scratching below the surface and looking into more serious subjects than the frivolous rules of behavior of women of the South gone by -- the chapter heading in all of her books.
Belle Cantrell is a trail blazing woman of the early 20th century. She stands up publicly for women's suffrage and the rights of blacks; she works as the overseer of a farm; and she is personally affected by anti-Semitism despite being a WASP herself.
She gets into messes without using her head at times. She believes a photo taken of her in a "compromising position" has caused the death of her husband (she's wrong). She can't shake the silly Scarlett O'Hara one-sided conversations in her brain about what self-respecting girls (especially those who have lifted themselves out of the trash) should do. And she is not the best mother in the world.
But the author has a "gotcha" with the pleasure. The reader won't get to the end of the book without thinking about the broader themes of the fights for rights of many groups a hundred years ago and the issues that folks have to face and fight today as well. This is a palatable history lesson and a romance interwoven with issues of decency that mothers can feel good about passing on to their daughters when they are finished reading it.
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