Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

The title of this ARC, graciously provided to me by NetGalley and HarperCollins, called to me on many levels, and I immediately requested this debut novel by Grace Helena Walz. As a dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying Southerner (born and raised in southeast Louisiana), I just knew instinctively that I would enjoy this book, and I did. I loved it.

While I wouldn’t necessarily classify this novel as a mystery, there was an element of mystery to it as the main character, Mack Bishop, is desperate to find out the identity of her father. It is something that is always in the back of her mind, and after years of begging her mother to divulge this info, she turns her search to her soon-to-be ex-husband Grady Suffolk through his mother, Delta, who is her mother’s lifelong best friend. Surely, she will know!

Now, this is not the main plot line of the book, but it is a thread that is sewn in throughout the story, where the main plot line is the possibility that Mack will be signed on to have a home renovation and design tv show with Exquisite Interiors, a tv network suspiciously similar to HGTV, one of my “favorites” on my cable line-up.

When Mack (officially named Magnolia, after her mother and jokingly called Magnolia Junior by her best friend and co-designer Fitz) finally, finally, gets to the end of this thread and discovers the identity of her father, I literally gasped! No spoilers here, but it came out of nowhere and it was very well-done!

This book has some elements of coming of age even if the main character Mack is a fully grown woman and mother of a 7-year-old daughter. She has been on a mission to make a life for herself, outside of her hometown of Beaufort, South Carolina, something she creates for herself, by herself, without the connections or constraints of her wealthy, prominent mother or the wealthy, prominent family of her husband Grady. The story line bounces back and forth between Mack’s past, her college-days, to now, her work as an interior designer in beautiful Charleston. We see her “grow up” and mature into a confident young woman ready to take on the world. We see her let go of past grievances, rebuild burned bridges, and wrestle her very bossy and overpowering mother into a relationship they can both live with.

Southern by Design also has some elements of romance, with the backstory of Mack’s college boyfriend, Lincoln, ending with a very bad break-up, and her high school boyfriend, Grady, now ending with a very bad divorce. While there is a little spice (maybe half of a chili pepper), it is all off the page for those who don’t need all the graphic details, while also adding the emotional depth that makes this book enjoyable.

What I loved most about this book is feeling of a true Southerner painting a vivid and accurate picture of the settings. For example, the favorite restaurant of Mack’s mom:

It isn’t long before Hallie and I arrive at the restaurant and are seated at a table draped with a heavy cream tablecloth. Magnolia’s favorite steak house is decked out with enough oak and dim lighting for a gentlemen’s smoking room. It also boasts linen napkins, a requirement for Magnolia as she refuses paper napkins at any and all establishments. She’s even been known to travel with her own linen napkin and a small laundry bag to contain it post-use.

Sure, this kind of restaurant can be found in any big city, but for me, it brought to mind the only fine-dining establishment in my hometown of Port Sulphur, Sig’s, and the happy memories of the very special events that allowed me to eat there (it was frightfully expensive so it was only a handful of times). Sigvald Udstad, the owner and chef, just happened to be the older brother of Ruth Fertel, as in Ruth’s Chris Steak House, the very famous chain of fine-dining steakhouses, which originated in nearby New Orleans. Sig and Ruth grew up in my hometown.

I loved the descriptive writing of this novel, and I could picture the characters so clearly, mostly as people that I grew up around in Louisiana.

Her steely-gray hair is styled into a voluminous bouffant to her shoulders. It doesn’t move on account of it being doused in half a can’s worth of hair spray.

If this isn’t reminiscent of my dear Aunt Helen, may she rest in peace, I just don’t know who it is!

I found the back-and-forth of the storylines to be well-paced. I had no trouble bouncing from one to the other, thanks to the headings indicating the time period for each segment of the book.

The author tied up all the loose ends quite well (for me) and I finished it feeling satisfied, although I wouldn’t say NO to a sequel, giving me more of the Bishops and Suffolks, all set in lovely coastal South Carolina.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for introducing me to Grace Helena Walz, and allowing me a pleasurable trip to Charleston, South Carolina, via this well-written debut novel.