Hell's Belles

Description for HELL'S BELLES: A TRIBUTE TO THE SPITFIRES, BAD SEEDS & STEEL MAGNOLIAS OF THE NEW AND OLD SOUTH by Seale Ballenger:

From Mama to Mammy, from Scarlett to Blanche, Hell's Belles (often exclaimed in mock piety and defining generations of southern women) is a hilarious, loving tribute to the famous and infamous females of ol' Dixie. This diverse collection features 200 women -- aristocratic to poverty-stricken, well-bred to ill-mannered, from West Virginia to Texas. There's something for everyone.Chapters include: "Belles Lettres", featuring luminaries such as Maya Angelou, Dorothy Allison, Carson McCullers, and, of course, Margaret Mitchell; "Sweet Southern Songbirds", spotlighting Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Dolly "I pattern my look after Cinderella, Mother Goose, and the local hooker", Parton et al.; "Politicos in Petticoats", including former Texas governor Ann Richards, Martha "The Mouth" Mitchell, and "Miz" Lillian Carter; "Silver Belles and Shining Stars", honoring Tallulah Bankhead, the golden-haired actress with a whiskey voice who described herself as "pure as driven slush", America's sweetheart Oprah Winfrey, and Hattie McDaniel, the only African American woman to win an Oscar until Whoopi Goldberg, among others.

Readers will be spellbound by stories of Confederate spies, renegade slaves, voodoo queens, and Scarlett impersonators. Packed with quotes, photographs, and sweet-as-pie, sugar-won't-melt-in-your-mouth southern charm, Hell's Belles is sure to delight.