There are 18 to choose from, so pick one that sounds good and let’s circle back and share our thoughts on March 9. Who knows, maybe I will have even finished the new one by then! You can read about all of the books at http://www.jodipicoult.com/. 

What can I say? I loved this book. I hadn’t read it before selecting it for book club, which can sometimes be a risky maneuver. Luckily, it worked out. 

 

 I’m sure she had to learn how to manage her fair share of cowboys and ranch hands. Here she is whistling to try and keep someone in line, I’m sure.  

 

 

I haven’t read Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle, but after reading this one, I definitely plan to pick it up. And, I want to know, if you’ve read Half Broke Horses, what were your favorite parts? Can you relate to Lily?

The holidays and the dreary weather here resulted in a small turnout, but we delved into The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell by Loraine Despres and had a great conversation. In addition to writing Belle, Despres wrote The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc in which Belle appears as Sissy’s grandmother. Despres was generous enough to call in and take part in the discussion and we peppered her with our questions.

Belle is full of details from the 1920s—details that could only be captured by meticulous research. Despres said she spent a year researching the time period. “Thank God for the Web,” she laughed. She read books, visited the library and studied magazines from the period.

To capture the details of one particular scene, Despres reached out to the Stutz Barecat Club and found someone who shared the particulars of how to shift.

Despres even committed to only reading literature written before 1920 during the three years it took her to write Belle.

I fell in love with Sissy, and the entire time I was reading Belle I couldn’t help but think about how Despres weaved the two stories together even though they were very different stories. I was also left wondering how much the author knew about Belle when writing Sissy.

“I knew I wanted a lady like some of the ladies I knew in New Orleans—very imperious, very sure of themselves. Belle really came to me,” she said.

Of course we asked Despres her favorite rule. Without hesitating she said, "It’s okay for a woman to know her place. She just shouldn’t stay there." She also told us she doesn’t usually come up with a rule cold. “If something tickles me, I write it down,” she said.

Several parts of the book were inspired by Despres’s own experiences. She told us she grew up in a house like the Rubinstein’s—a house complete with bullet holes in her bedroom wall. “A vigilante group tried to drive my family out of town. It probably happened in the 1890s, but I knew I wanted to tell that story,” she said.

She also shared that she some of her favorite traits of Belle’s were her courage and her cynicism. “She was pretty much based on my mother,” she said.

SPOILER ALERTS—IF YOU HAVEN’T READ BELLE, STOP READING NOW. COME BACK AFTER YOU FINISH THE BOOK.

Based on the letter Belle found in Claude’s jacked, I assumed he was having an affair, but since I’m ever the optimist, I held out hope that Belle just misunderstood parts of the letter. I asked Despres flat out if Claude was having an affair. She confirmed my fear—he was unfaithful. Oh Claude—how could you? I will cut him a little slack since he was at war.

Throughout the novel I went back and forth on whether Belle was ignorant of the dangers she faced or if she was brave. I felt that she became more aware of her danger she faced as the novel went on and clearly was courageous when defending the Rubinsteins against the Ku Klux Klan.

Despres said she envisioned Belle as being brave when writing her. She added, “As a middle-class southern lady, she thought [the KKK] wouldn’t hurt her. Her family was important in the town and she thought they wouldn’t go after her.”

There were so many great story lines in the book. After we hung up the phone with Despres, we kept chatting about the book. I definitely recommend it as a book club pick and, you never know, Despres might call into your group, too. You can visit her blog at http://www.lorainedespres.blogspot.com/ and her Web site at www.lorainedespres.com. Also, check out my earlier Q&A with Loraine here, my post about Sissy here and my virtual book club post about Belle here.

By the way–my local library system had a a good number of copies of Belle available, but there was a wait list! So, you may want to check your local library or order from Amazon.

GIVEAWAY!!! What could be better than adding an autographed book plate courtesy of Loraine Despres to your copy of Belle or Sissy? Leave a comment by midnight Dec. 4 and I will pick a lucky winner on Dec. 5. 

I fell in love with Despres’s first novel, The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc, and the main character, Sissy (you can read my post about Sissy here). Belle is Sissy’s grandmother, so I couldn’t wait to read about her. 

The book introduces us to Belle in the 1920s. She is a young widow and is pushing the limits of what society deems socially acceptable for her. It starts when she decides to cut her hair and keeps getting better and better. 

Here are some questions I found online to get some ‘virtual book club’ discussion going: 

he Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell celebrates the tie between women of different generations. Discuss the relationship between Belle and Miss Effie. How did it change? What was Belle’s relationship with her own mother? How did it change? Do you think their relationship affected Belle’s relationship with her own daughter?

Belle makes up her own rules for her "Girl’s Guide to Men and Other Perils of Modern Life." If you had to pick one, which rule did you find the funniest? Appropriate for our time? Would you like to make up your own rule? Would you like to share it?

Do you think Belle was foolish or wise to risk so much for love?

My question for readers is, did you read Sissy first? Do you think that created expectations for how Belle would act? Do you want to re-read Sissy now that you know more about Belle? 

Do you have any discussion topics? Post them in the comments!

If you’d like to learn more about the author, you can visit her Web site at www.lorainedespres.com. Also, I was lucky enough to interview Despres for an author Q&A on this blog last month. We had a wonderful conversation and Despres spent so much time with me that I had to break the Q&A into two posts. Read the first Q&A here and the second here. 

First of all, thanks to everyone who left comments on my Q&A with Loraine Despres. I can’t wait to read her book for the virtual book club!

There were eight people who left comments and I am giving away two of her autographed bookplates. I combined the comments from both days and used Random.org to generate the numbers of the winners. They were #5 and #6, so congratulations, which were Allison and Janice. BUT…Allison graciously turned hers back in since she got this read from the library. 

So–I turned to Random.org once again and this time pulled the lucky #4, which is Sandy! I’ll get the book plates in the mail right away. 

For our next selection…drumroll please…The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell by Loraine Despres. I haven’t read the novel yet, but I fell in love with Loraine’s first novel, The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc. Learn more about the novel on Loraine’s Web site. I spoke with Loraine last week for an author Q&A that will appear on the blog on Monday and Tuesday. We talked so long it is going to take two posts to get everything in!

My virtual world and real life will collide in November as I am reading Belle for the online book club and hosting my local book club to discuss the book. I can’t wait! I am going to find some Southern recipes for my in-person meeting and will share the recipes online.

Loraine generously sent me autographed book plates that I am going to give away this week. Leave a comment on Monday and/or Tuesday for your chance to enter. You have until 5:00 Eastern Friday, Oct. 16 to enter. I will announce the winners on Monday, Oct. 19.