The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove

By Susan Gregg Gilmore

Book Overview

Nobody in Nashville has a bigger name to live up to than Bezellia Grove.? As a Grove, she belongs to one of city's most prominent families and is expected to embrace her position in high society.? That means speaking fluent French, dancing at cotillions with boys from other important families, and mastering the art of the perfect smile.? ? Also looming large is her given name Bezellia, which has been passed down for generations to the first daughter born to the eldest Grove.? The others in the long line of Bezellias shortened the ancestral name to Bee, Zee or Zell.? But Bezellia refuses all nicknames and dreams that one day she, too, will be remembered for her original namesake's courage and passion. ? Though she leads a life of privilege, being a Grove is far from easy.? Her mother hides her drinking but her alcoholism is hardly a secret.? Her father, who spends long hours at work, is distant and inaccessible.? For as long as she can remember, she's been raised by Maizelle, the nanny, and Nathaniel, the handyman.? To Bezellia, Maizelle and Nathaniel are cherished family members.? To her parents, they will never be more than servants.?? ? Relationships are complicated in 1960s Nashville, where society remains neatly ordered by class, status and skin color.? Black servants aren't supposed to eat at the same table as their white employers.? Black boys aren't supposed to make conversation with white girls.? And they certainly aren't supposed to fall in love.? When Bezellia has a clandestine affair with Nathaniel's son, Samuel, their romance is met with anger and fear from both families.? In a time and place where rebelling against the rules carries a steep price, Bezellia Grove must decide which of her names will be the one that defines her.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307395030
• ISBN13: 9780307395030
• Release Date: August 2010
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

3 stars

THE IMPROPER LIFE OF BEZELLIA GROVE by Susan Gregg Gilmore A charming coming of age story set in the 1960s. Bezellia Grove grows up within an affluent family in Nashville Tennessee. While her physician father is busy at work and her emotionally abusive, alcoholic mother cares more about her social life, Bezellia and her sister Adelaide have come to rely on their nanny Maizelle and handyman Nathaniel for familial love and support. Once Bezellia develops feelings for Nathaniel’s son Samuel, she begins to see the glaring differences between class, status and skin color within the uppity society and community in they live in. This is one of those stories that has been repeated time and time again; forbidden love, a clash of two cultures etc. While it’s a good story with an interesting premise and characters, there just wasn’t anything special or specific enough to make it stand out from other books in this genre. Rating: 3/5 ⭐️

We All Need To Feel Loved

Bezellia Grove grows up in an affluent and dysfunctional home in Tennessee. Her mother is an alcoholic. Her father is a Physician who is never home. The housemaid and handyman are who she feels more a kin to besides her sister, who has her own emotional issues. She just wants to be loved and finds it in a time that the world is not ready for it.