The Southern Literary Trail

Artist Christopher Stott, Pear With Books

Susan, of the blog A Southern Daydreamer Reads, has begun a summer reading challenge in the blogosphere. I'm game! 

Earlier this summer, I visited Flannery O'Conner's home, Andalusia, as well as Margaret Mitchell's Atlanta apartment, where she wrote Gone With The Wind. Both are part of the Southern Literary Trail, a special event this year celebrating classic Southern writers in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. The Trail got me thinking - there are so many great Southern writers I either haven't read, or haven't read much of - if I can't TRAVEL the Trail, why not READ my way through the Trail? Now, there are too many great Southern authors to read everyone (or everything they wrote), but I've selected a few for my own challenge. I'm off on the Trail! Here's my route:

1) Mud on the Stars, William Bradford Huie (Hartselle, Alabama)

2) The Complete Short Stories, Truman Capote (Monroeville, Alabama)

3) A Good Man is Hard to Find, Flannery O'Conner (Milledgeville, GA)

4) The Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison (Tuskegee, AL)

5) The Collected Plays, Lillian Hellman (Demopolis, Alabama)

6) As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner (Oxford, MS)

7) The Moviegoer, Walker Percy (Greenville, MS)

8) The Golden Apples, Eudora Welty (Columbus, MS)

9) The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams (Columbus, MS)

10) The Beautiful and Damned, F. Scott Fitzgerald (Montgomery, AL)

Caveat: this list is subject to change, based on whimsy. I may switch the works around a little... but I have until September 21st, when the challenge ends, to figure it out! 

The Well-Read Look

I love pretty things, Anthropologie, and books, so when I find pretty books at Anthropologie - perfect! Below are a few snapshots of my favorite tomes - worth the reading, and perfect for decorating - your coffee table, bedstand, or display shelf. 

Valentino:  A Grand Italian Epic

What Would Audrey Do? 

Jaime Hayon Works

Sarah Midda's South of France

This is London

The Cultivated Life

All images, Anthropologie.com

Flannery O'Connor's Andalusia

I had the wonderful experience of visiting Flannery O'Connor's home, Andalusia, not too long ago. Through a friend, I was able to take a private tour of the house and grounds, and it was a wonderful experience. The house has only very recently begun restoration, thanks to the Andalusia Foundation (which could use a donation or two, if you're feeling generous). Visiting the farm is a rare opportunity to experience a gifted writer's home environment. 

The Farmhouse. Andalusia was a former plantation, situated on 544 acres. It wasn't the O'Connor's plantation however - they didn't acquire it until many years later. Flannery lived and wrote here, with her mother, and they ran the farm as a dairy operation. This is the original plantation house - not very grand, but then most weren't, in spite of Gone With The Wind's depictions.

A view of the porch - doesn't it look inviting?

Flannery loved the farm and animals, most especially her peacocks and peahens. She wrote essays about them, as a matter of fact. She special ordered her first peacocks from Florida after reading an ad in a newspaper. The first little family of peacocks eventually grew into a hundred - and they could be heard all hours of the day or night, crying in their rather unpleasant, rasping voices. 

Flannery's bedroom. Flannery left the South for the prestigious Iowa Writer's Program at the University of Iowa, where she excelled. She later moved to New York, but after contracting Lupus was forced to return home. Flannery's bedroom is the former parlor, on the main level of the house. She moved here when it became too difficult for her to use the stairs. Note the crutches - Flannery's - leaning against the bookcase. While the typewriter is a prop, the desk is where she wrote each day. I thought it was interesting how structured the room was. There are only three colors: blue, white, and the dark wood furniture.

The dining room. This room was directly across from Flannery's bedroom, on the main floor of the house. She and her mother sewed the curtains themselves. I loved the feel of this room. It's just very natural, very Southern. 

Flannery's church, in Milledgeville. She attended Mass here almost every day. Her faith is a prevalent and sometimes unusual theme in her writing. Flannery finally succumbed to Lupus, dying at age 39.

A childhood note - Flannery's sense of humor was apparent at an early age. Flannery augmented the title of this book to read:  "The Adventure of a Brownie ...is not very good."

All images, my own. Please email me to request permission for use!

Victor, Victoria Magazine!

Victoria was the beginning of my love affair with magazines. I stumbled upon it at a grocery check-out at the astute age of 12, mistakenly assuming it was about the Victorian world of my period doll, Samantha. It was a fortuitous mistake. The Victoria of the early 90s was a glossy, richly filled publication; every page was layered in gorgeous photography. Fashion inserts featured couture styling, luscious velvets, and a great deal of jewelry. I learned good aesthetic principles from those pages, thick with creative decorating, history, gardening, and excellent writing. I eventually began to read other magazines - Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Vogue, and Town and Country, but I never threw away a Victoria. When I returned to the U.S. in 2003 to find that the magazine was no longer on the shelves, it was a real blow. Hoffman publications brought back Victoria in 2007, and I wondered if they could really capture the unrivaled combination of good taste and graceful living that made the original magazine so unique. They could. The latest July/Aug issue not only features Draper's freshened up Greenbrier, but the restored rooms of Edith Wharton's The Mount. Don't miss this issue!!!

THE GREENBRIER

The graceful Greenbrier. Originally founded in 1778, the 721 room hotel within a few hour's drive of D.C. has hosted most U.S. Presidents and numerous other dignitaries. When Draper first encountered the Greenbrier, it was in dilapidated condition, having served as an army hospital during WWII. She roamed the halls with a flashlight, planning the rooms for which she would become famous. She claimed to have encountered the ghost of another guest, Robert E. Lee, in a corridor. 

The entry staircase Draper made famous. Her philosophy about pattern was "more is more."

A room vinegette, with more layered pattern and the fearless use of color that characterizes much of Draper's work.

Ancient influence is felt throughout the Greenbrier. Draper interspersed busts and statuary with bold modern design. 

EDITH WHARTON'S THE MOUNT
Edith Wharton's beautiful home. The author of what many consider the first book on interior design, "The Decoration of Houses," designed the 1902 estate herself. Edith's inspiration was the English country home, Belton House.

While architects Ogden Codman (with whom she co-authored "Houses") and Francis Hoppin finalized the plans for the house, the garden design was all Edith's own.

Edith Wharton stuck to her decorating principles; the guidelines she gave in "The Decoration of Houses" were followed religiously at The Mount, to marvelous affect. Wharton's goal was to revive house decoration as a branch of architecture, holding that a room with lovely furnishings and poor design could never achieve true beauty. She preferred exquisitely detailed design with simple furnishings and colors. In this space at The Mount, the architecture of the room is indeed on display, while quiet details and soft colors bring harmony to the space.

Images, Victoria Magazine. Exterior view of The Mount, edithwharton.org. These pictures are not featured in the magazine story; check out the newsstand for the full scoop.