Southern Charm

A Novel

By: Tinsley Mortimer

Narrated by: Johanna Parker

Southern girl Minty Davenport always dreamed of skyscrapers, yellow cabs, and a life like Eloise's in New York City. So upon graduation from college, she bids adieu to Charleston and makes a beeline for the Big Apple. Almost instantly, she finds herself at an event being photographed for Women's Wear Daily, and her career as a New York society "It Girl" is launched.

As Minty navigates the ironclad customs of New York society, a blossoming love life, and a job working for a ruthless and powerful publicist, she finds that the rules a Southern belle lives by-being nice to everyone, accentuating her femininity, and minding her manners-don't necessarily guarantee success in Manhattan. She may indeed be accumulating new friends and opportunities along with bold-faced mentions and a very eligible bachelor boyfriend, but someone is plotting her very public downfall. When Minty gets to the top of the social ladder, she must decide if the glamorous life she thought she wanted is really everything she hoped it would be. Tinsley Mortimer's insider observations about New York's elite are deliciously witty, and the heart of her book is that of an irresistibly loveable young woman who is on the brink of finding her dream.

©2012 Tinsley Mortimer (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

" Southern Charm will remind you of who you were before you became a jaded New Yorker." (Kelly Rutherford)

It Seems Unfinished

It felt like I had just gotten into the second half of the story when all of a sudden I heard, "The End." I thought, either this is a mistake or there is another book to continue the story and actually bring true closure. Unfortunately neither of those were true.

Unfinished second half

The story line was cute however it just dropped off with no clear ending. Read like it was perhaps close to her real life.

A Delightful Southern Treat Of A Read

As a true Southener, I adored this book. Listening to Tinsley tell her story, brought back so many memories of my first trip to NY (I also stayed at The Plaza) and the tapes which play in my own mind, placed ever so carefully by my Louisiana born and bred dear Mother. A delightful read, to be sure.

Not Very Original

What would have made Southern Charm better?

I would have liked to seen Minty struggle more with financial matters, live in a tiny, overpriced cracker box apartment with mean neighbors and just have her not be so darn shallow.

What was most disappointing about Tinsley Mortimer’s story?

I was disappointing because I've read this story many times over. You know, the whole "small town girl goes to NYC to make her way in the big apple" thing... Except it's hard to empathize or identify with Minty. I guess what bothers me is that she doesn't seem to ever work for anything, it just falls in her lap, well...because she's ...Minty. Her rich Southern family "get" her a nice apartment (and have it decorated), buy her clothes and fund her lifestyle until she basically walks into a job with a top PR firm....and of course Minty is so beautiful and vivacious that soon photographers are snapping her picture everywhere and she becomes the toast of the town. What I found hilarious is the fact that Minty complains several times about her boyfriend/husband acting like a spoiled little boy when she's hardly much better. It's very obvious that the writer patterned this after Lauren Weisberger's novels (Devil Wears Prada, Chasing Harry Winston, etc...).

What about Johanna Parker’s performance did you like?

Johanna Parker's performance is marvelous as always. Sorry she got stuck with this dud.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Southern Charm?

I probably wouldn't cut anything, I would add to it....flesh it out a bit. Make Minty more likable to the average woman on the street.