Hell's Belles: A Tribute to the Spitfires, Bad Seeds, and Steel Magnolias of the New and Old South

by Seale BallEnglisher

Bad seeds, belleslettres, rule breakers, shreiking violets, bar belles how could any collections of impudent sketches that celebrates and lampoons the American Southern bell go wrong? Most of the women on these pages are instantly recognizable. Among those whose exploits or imagination vaulted them to fame are writers Carson McCullers and Anne Rice; emancipator Harriet Tubman; actress and onetime town owner Kim Basinger; exblack Panther Angela Davis; 30's outlaw Bonnie Parker; and mascara maven Tammy Faye Baker. A few littleknowns and relative newcomers have elbowed their way on stage, too. From Mama to Mammy, from Scarlett to Blanche, Hell's Bells (often exclaimed in mock piety and defining generations of Southern women) is hilarious and loving tribute to the famous and infamous females of ol' Dixie. This diverse collections features more than 200 womenaristocratic to poverty stricken, well-bred to illmannered, from Virginia to Texas (the heart of the Confederacy) who have one thing in a uniquely Southern take on life and a strength and a strength of character molded by their roots.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, Womens, Southern

271 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

Reviews

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Fun, interesting history of a wide array of Southern women.

The main thing I was wondering though is why Truman Capote was included, seemingly only because he's gay. Last I checked, being a gay male does not a woman make.

I understand the 2 drag queens that were listed, as they actually identify as women, but Truman Capote doesn't.
Major political-correctness-fail. Also there were several spelling errors of names and buildings that the author should have Googled (i.e. Chillie instead of the correct Chilli, member of TLC, and Julliard instead of Juilliard),

[Richard Thompson · Rating 1 out of 5]

What was I thinking when I bought this book? I should have known better. Maybe I thought that I would be amused by biographical sketches of iconoclastic Southern women who wouldn't knuckle under to the patriarchy. It wasn't that. It's just boring thumbnail bios of women who most of us from all parts of the country already know. I would have had a better time and would have learned more if I had googled "interesting women from the American South" and then read the Wikipedia articles on promising names.

But for some reason I kept reading instead of putting it aside after the first ten pages. When my wife saw the cover and asked me what I was reading, I blushed with shame at having been caught red handed reading this thing. She rightly characterized it as bathroom reading. I wish I could say that it was a guilty pleasure, but it wasn't. All guilt, little pleasure. Now I have to sneak out under cover of darkness and stick it into one of our neighborhood little lending libraries so that it can be gone from my house.

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hell’s Belles: A Tribute to the Spitfires, Bad Seeds & Steel Magnolias of the New and Old South by Seale Ballenger (Conari Press 1997) (305.4) (3678).

This book was a shocker. Seale Ballenger has outdone herself by compiling one of the most entertaining books of trivia that I’ve ever run across. This book is seriously a hoot! These are one and two page bios of legendary Southern (or honorary Southern) women (and a few men), but these bios contain only the good stuff that you won’t find gathered anywhere else. From Tallulah Bankhead to Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Sean Ballenger has combed and sifted through the historical facts about these characters until she has mined some astonishingly unique factoids down to nuggets of pure gold for this volume.

I literally can’t praise this one highly enough.

Two thumbs up to author Sean Ballenger.

I purchased a used PB copy in good condition from McKay’s on 6/1/22 for $1.25.

My rating: 7.75/10, finished 9/4/22 (3678).

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

[Laura Hunsinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice book about a wide range of southern women. The entries are a little short for my taste but overall the book is a good jumping-off place to find interesting women from history. My biggest question/concern is that I don’t understand why Truman capote was included in this otherwise all-female book.

[Thejessicaness · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found their histories interesting. People come in all sorts and this book was a celebration of that.

[Jacqueline]

enjoyed

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for a coffee table book or to read with another, but not for reading straight through.

[Tammy Tolar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spitfire and courageous good read risque at points but romance novel i think not action thriller would make a great movie tee hee

[Tori]

2007