In the Neighborhood of True by Susan Kaplan Carlton (review)

Ruth Robb admits to her own shallowness in falling for the Southern Comfort–laced glamor and catty camaraderie surrounding the pre-debutante season in 1958 Atlanta. As a transplant from a New York apartment to her maternal grandparents' gracious estate, she finds the season a distraction from her father's recent death. The one catch is that Ruth recognizes she's not entitled to any of this: Ruth is Jewish (though her maternal grandparents are not), and the hidebound cotillion circuit definitely does not cotton to Jews. With her mother's reluctant acquiescence and her grandmother's guidance, protection, and social bona fides, Ruth begins a double life: temple on Shabbat and high holidays to please her mother; Tea and Etiquette afternoons, a pastel wardrobe makeover, and a dimpled, hands-on charmer of a boyfriend to please herself. As gratifying as booze, sex, and the lure of the Magnolia Crown are for Ruth, there's also Max, a civil rights activist from the temple, tugging softly but insistently at her conscience, and when her boyfriend gets dragged into his older brother's anti-Semitic Klan activity, it's time to get serious about what's important in life. Carlton writes with equal parts bemusement and respect for the pre-deb cohort, who are well aware of the difference between looking good and being good, just as she casts a gimlet eye upon the temple do-gooders who have no clue how their brand of activism sits with the Black citizens for whom they advocate (from a safe distance). The ending is, of course, the righteous one, but Carlson is deft enough to leave readers with a pang of regret for the crown and boyfriend Ruth gives up. A closing note on the 1958 Atlanta temple bombing that inspired this story is included. EB