A collection of essays that are like being seated beside the most entertaining guest at a dinner party (Atlanta Journal Constitution)--from the New York Times bestselling author of American Housewives
"Thank you Helen Ellis for writing down the Southern Lady Code so that others may learn." --Ann Patchett, bestselling author of The Dutch House
Helen Ellis has a mantra: "If you don´t have something nice to say, say something not-so-nice in a nice way." Say "weathered" instead of "she looks like a cake left out in the rain" and "I´m not in charge" instead of "they´re doing it wrong."
In these twenty-three raucous essays, Ellis transforms herself into a dominatrix Donna Reed to save her marriage, inadvertently steals a Burberry trench coat, avoids a neck lift, and finds a black-tie gown that gives her the confidence of a drag queen. While she may have left Alabama for New York City, Helen Ellis is clinging to her Southern accent like mayonnaise to white bread, and offering readers a hilarious, completely singular view on womanhood for both sides of the Mason-Dixon.