Beauty Before Comfort

by Allison Glock

“The first lesson [my grandmother] ever taught me was that dancing matters. . . . When she did come across men she fancied who didn’t dance, she sent them away until they did. They always learned, because my grandmother was bitingly beautiful, and that is the second lesson she taught me—that beauty inspires, all of God’s beauty, but especially hers.”

So writes Allison Glock at the start of her irresistible memoir of her maternal grandmother, Aneita Jean Blair, a woman who came of age during the Depression in a West Virginia factory town yet refused to succumb to the desperation that surrounded her. Instead, Aneita Jean rouged her cheeks and kicked up her heels and did
her best to forget the realities of life in an in-sular community where your neighbors could be
as unforgiving as the Appalachian landscape. Before it was all over, Aneita Jean would have seven marriage proposals and her share of the tragedies that befall small-town girls with bushels of suitors and bodies like Miss America, girls “who dare to see past the dusty perimeters of their lives.”

In lyrical and often breathtaking language, Glock travels back through time, assisted by a fistful of old photos and the piercing childhood memories of her grandmother, “a skinny, eager child with disobedient hair and bottomless
longing.” Together they guide us through the cramped dankness of the pottery plants, the dense sweetness of the holler, and into the surging promise of the Ohio River, capturing not only the irrepressible vitality of Aneita Jean Blair, but also the rich ambiance of working-class West Virginia during the twenties, the Great Depression, and World War II. Expertly written, lovingly told, Beauty Before Comfort is stirring testimony to the vanished dreams, and powerful spirit, of an extraordinary person and place.

Genres: Memoir, Southern

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the information about Homer-Laughlin and Fiestaware just as intriguing as the overall story of Glock's grandmother. A well-written memoir.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of those books I picked up at a book sale, just cuz it looked interesting. Turned out to be pretty good. I liked how the author mixed what was happening in the woman's life with what was happening in her area of Ohio, the economy, the war, the changes roles of women, etc.

[John Tipper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A memoir of Allison Glock's grandmother, a strange setup, but she manages to pull it off well. With scintillating and imaginative prose, Glock tells the story of Aneita Jean Blair, who grew up in Chester, West Virginia. Her family was working class, her dad, Andrew, worked as potter in a factory. Chester is a small town in the Ohio River Valley. Edna, the mom, was a homemaker. They had five children. Aneita Jean liked movies and dreamed of being the next Betty Davis. Born in 1920, Jean grew into an attractive teen. Boys wanted to date her when she went through puberty. She became shapely, built like "Miss America," she described herself. There's a valuable section of the book in which Glock gives a history of the Ohio River Valley, its economy, culture and demographics. The Klu Klux Klan was powerful there in the 1920s, and Andrew sympathized with them. He had his daughter Jean entertain the masked men at meetings, singing and dancing. Jean hated this.
Aneita Jean turned out to be a complex and unconventional woman. She had strengths and flaws. This is not a hagiography. Glock covers the Great Depression, WWII, and the 1950s. There's a lot insight in small town life in Appalachia.

[Bettye · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a well-written book of a fairly ordinary life. Jeannie Blair lived in a small West Virginia town dominated by the pottery industry. The most interesting parts of the book detail the history of the pottery industry in this corner of West Virginia. But the story of Jeannie, an attractive young girl who blossoms into womanhood at an early age, was not all that unusual or interesting to me. Her teen age years were spent keeping a long line of boyfriends on a string, yet this really brought little to her life. I kept hoping that Jeannie would rise above her beginnings, finding there was more to life than good looks and boyfriends. But there is no turning point, where she decides to make a better life for herself or her family or strikes off in a new direction. She settles into a somewhat dreary marriage to a good man. The last 20 pages or so sum up her marriage and the birth of her 3 daughters. This book is a nice memoir for Jeannie's family, but I can't see why anyone else would be that interested.

[Kenneth Strickland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve always loved looking at old black & white photos and pondering over the lives of the people I see so this was a very satisfying read, getting context to the pictures of people unknown to me growing up and living in the not-so-distant past in the ever fascinating West Virginia. I really enjoyed this.

[Treasure Island Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those memoirs about a woman you wouldn't want to know in person, but are fascinated to read about. Allison Glock does a good job of explaining the place and time that shaped her grandmother. A good read.

[Rosanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nourishing sort of biography, the best kind. Reminder that how we live matters, though mainly to us.

[Kathy Ferrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this several years ago and really enjoyed it. Glock takes us into her family's lives with humor and warmth. It's a brave, enjoyable book, and as a West Virginian, I can vouch for her genuine voice. There aren't enough West Virginian memories being told about the fairly recent past. Instead, when one of us does decide to write, it's often some stilted thing about the Civil War or the Hatfield-McCoy feud. This book is nothing like that. There is joy here, and I think you'll enjoy reading it.

[Diane Bosser · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the details about pottery ware and the pre and post WWII industrial growth and change in WV. The author did a good job showing the limited and hard choices people made, including those who stayed and those who left. I did not enjoy the run down of every boy her grandmother dated and repeated descriptions of photographs.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. The grandmother in this story reminded me a lot of my sister and her obsession with makeup and men. Gave me a better understanding of women who put thier outer beauty before their inner beauty.

[Ginny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book because I love Fiesta Ware! It contained so much history within the story, I just couldn't put it down.

[Juneus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for Southern flavor since I was attempting to do some writing in that genre. I enjoyed it.

[Libscigrl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't get past the 20th page...supposed to be a granddaughters recount of her grandmother's younger days, when it was important to look good and flirt. Bored me out of my mind.

[Ginny]

Interesting book; talks about the glass & pottery companies that thrived in West Virginia...specifically in the Chester/Newll area of WV

[Caterina · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, the historical account of West Virginia was more interesting than the family narrative.

[Kateri Ewing · Rating 3 out of 5]

A romping memoir of a sassy Southern woman who more than reminded me of my step-grandma and grandma all rolled into one. Very much enjoyed this and it's a quick read.