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Ex-debutante Linda Francis Lee's fluffy new novel, The Devil in the Junior League, also could be called Extreme Makeover, Texas style.
But don't start envisioning Dallas-era big hair in this tale of a duck turned into a swan, thanks to effective retail therapy. A veteran of the Junior League and former beauty contestant, Lee clearly knows Texas high society. And she dishes about the unspoken but dead-serious rules of being a red-state lady that blue-state chicks with flat accents are clueless about.
The result is an amusing if flawed bit of regional chick lit. It's Lee's details about how the blue-blood women dress, talk, decorate, entertain and conduct themselves that keep the pages turning. Personal grooming is not omitted. Apparently, shaving above the knee is verboten!
The plot describes how an adored daddy's girl, the pampered, beautiful, rich Fredericka Mercedes Hildebrand Ware, known as Frede, transforms a tacky neighbor, the spangle-worshiping, thong-sporting Nikki.
Through skillful shopping, blunt advice and Borgia-level scheming, Frede transforms Nikki into a Texas socialite.
But renovating Nikki also changes Frede. Despite her perfect blond looks, fabulous house and full-time maid, Frede's life lacks a few things: love, honesty, humility and a purpose. Frede's husband has run off with her fortune -- and another woman. Bill collectors have her phone on auto dial. And a viper in the Junior League is planning a coup.
By the end, alas, the plot spirals from fun to silly. But as a guide to the arcane mysteries of Texas womanhood, Junior League is sweetened iced tea on a hot afternoon, the correct daytime beverage of choice for all would-be debutantes.
The Devil in the Junior League
Linda Francis Lee
St. Martin's Press, 325 pp., $22.95
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