6 Must Read Novels-The Belles of Southern Literature

There are certain books which inspire the way you live, impacting the choices you make. In raising my Wildflowers, it is important to me to provide them with role models who possess the qualities I believe a woman should have: gumption, grit, strength, grace, a kind heart, a genuine and independent spirit, loyalty to those she loves and gratitude for her many blessings, even during life’s roughest days.  Each of the selections in my favorite “Belles of Southern Literature” book list has captivated me in one way or another. Women who make sweet tea and say such things as, “Bless your heart”, to their enemies, all while silently planning ways to stand up to adversity are my kind of gals.

 

I have gained wisdom from these literary heroines and try to live my life according to the lessons learned. Even more importantly, I try to pass them along to my girls. I hope you too will feel inspired by the resiliency, strength and friendship found between the pages. All of these titles have been made into movies, which is not surprising based on their spectacular content! Below are the Must Read Novels- Belles of Southern Literature. I would love to hear about any books you would include on this list, as I know there are many! Happy Reading!

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe: Fannie Flagg
I saw this movie as a young girl years before I knew it was a book. The movie to this day is one of my favorites. In my young age I quickly found a kindred spirit in Idgie, who was called the Bee Charmer and never took to wearing dresses but instead enjoyed keeping up with the boys.
The movie is different from the book, as I later learned. Although I loved them both. I became even more deeply connected to the characters and environment once I started reading it. It discusses friendship, loss, racism, loyalty, and finding your true self. All of this set in the Deep South with racial tensions of the 30’s running high and a murder twist to boot! I recommend reading the book before watching the film, but make sure you do both!

Buying Options (Click on the link for your preferred format): 

Paperback Format         Kindle Format

Where the Heart Is: Billie Letts
Seventeen year old Novalee Nation is seven months pregnant when she is abandoned by her unborn child’s father at a Walmart in Oklahoma. Not knowing a soul in town and having no one back home to help, she decides to live at the Walmart. This is until she has her baby and life changes drastically.
The misfit characters who make up the story become people you deeply love and feel a connection to while you become engrained in the plot line. Experiencing the love, loss and difficulties of life all while watching a young girl navigate her path makes for a fabulous adventure and a highly entertaining read.

Buying Options (Click on the link for your preferred format): 

Paperback Format           Kindle Format 

 

Gone With The Wind: Margaret Mitchell
What can I possibly say about this story that hasn’t already been said. Being my mother’s favorite movie, I decided to pick up the book before taking a long solo flight to Japan. I already knew Scarlett O’Hara was a conniving, selfish woman, and the book didn’t change this fact. However,  you can’t help but love her and her serious gumption in the face of hardship. Watching her grow from a pampered brat to a tough-as-nails woman, fighting for her home and all she loves, is the epitome of strength. They say this book is the greatest love story of our time. I am not so sure about this, but it is an incredible journey of a woman’s self-discovery of strength and grit against all odds. There is a reason this is a classic and why Scarlett is still an iconic female after all of these years. Classic enough for me to name my daughter after her, in the hopes of her having strength, self-love and true grit. I just hope she doesn’t have the same drama with her Rhett someday!

Buying Options (Click on the link for your preferred format): 

Paperback Format     Kindle Format 

 

Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood: Rebecca Wells
I’ve never wanted to be part of a “tribe” so badly as with the group of four women in this book. It starts out from the narrative of Siddalee, the daughter of a strong-headed, stubborn woman named Vivi, from which she is newly estranged. Enter Vivi’s four best friends who step in to mediate between the mother and daughter. Using a private scrapbook created over the years by the four women, they explain to Siddalee the truths of her mother’s love and loss. I love that this book examines the sometimes complicated relationship between mothers and daughters. I also read it when my husband was at war, a scary time when I was lonely and in desperate need of some solid friends who knew the feeling of loving a traveling solider (or Marine in my case). This book helped fill that void. Some of the situations are difficult to understand, unless you think of the phrase, “hurt people, hurt people,” but I couldn’t help falling in love with the characters anyway. The book made me appreciate not only my mom and her friends, but my own ride-or-die girlfriends who help navigate all of life’s seasons. In this case, I thought the book far outweighed the movie.

Buying Options (Click on the link for your preferred format): 

Paperback Format       Kindle Format 

 

The Help: Kathryn Stockett
By now I believe everyone has read the book or seen the movie, but it has to be on my list. I found both to be wonderful, with the characters fully coming to life on the silver screen! Three women, a white college girl and two African American maids in 1960’s Mississippi form a secret relationship to expose racial injustices in their town. The stories shared by the maids are both laugh out loud hilarious and heartbreakingly sad. It is a beautifully written book with women you won’t soon forget. A phrase from the book that really stuck with me was spoken by Aibileen to the child she cared for, “You is kind, you is smart, you is important”, which is something I tell my own daughters daily. This book continues to leave a lasting impression on my heart.

Buying Options (Click on the link for your preferred format): 

Paperback Format            Kindle Format

 

Steel Magnolias: Robert Harling

Technically, Steel Magnolias is a play, but it is such a classic story in Southern Literature and friendship that I would read it in any form. Harling wrote the play in 10 days as a tribute to his sister, Susan who had passed away. Besides a way to cope, it also passed on a piece of her memory to her son, his nephew. Basing the characters in his play on the strong Southern women in his own life, he created a timeless story of friendship and the importance of leaning on each other to deal with a tragic loss. Although the play has a difficult death, the beauty of the story is found in the form of humor and depth of the characters, with great, big love for each other.  Hands down, I believe Ouiser Boudreaux might be the funniest Southern woman of all time. To this day, I laugh so hard I cry remembering a some of her lines. Once you finish reading the play, it is imperative to watch the now classic 1989 movie, with tissues.

Buying Options: 

Paperback Format