The Last Dance of the Debutante - Book Review

The Last Dance of the Debutante

Julia Kelly

3.8 stars


 

 

 

A group of girls head into the Season, where their primary goal is to 'network' and find a suitable husband. Lily is doing it because her mother and grandmama were debutantes in their day. She's given up her schooling and her thoughts to attend University to maintain tradition and family expectations during this time.

And that's when the tale expands, there is lots of tulle and descriptions of dresses, tea dances, exhausting balls and family secrets, but the story also weighs in on the changing roles for women and the breaking away from traditional ways. 

Of course there's a scandal, as a reader you anticipate it early on but wait and wait for it to be officially revealed. Characters (human beings) don't change overnight so this gradual enlightenment, let's call it, worked for me. The slow movement of change is to be expected, there were a lot of rules to be broken and I thought that Lily and the other debutantes played nicely to their strengths (Katherine - wisdom, Leana - upbringing) with not too many surprises along the way.

I liked the growth of Lily, the main character and how she made her own rules (eventually) in friendship, family, education and romance. 

This is a good one for light-ish reading but it was also nicely informative of the times. 

There was only one thing I didn't like about this book and that is its cover. Yes, it probably spoke to the times but I did not feel it was fitting for the main character. Yes, the girls were beautifully dressed (or what would the point of being a Deb, I say sarcastically) but the cover does not show the tired feet, the exhausting nights, the expectations of family. It did not relate to the changing times or the minds and courage of the young women. Not everyone wants to be a Mrs.

What are you reading these summer days?



 

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