Bailey White's South has a warm and hospitable atmosphere, a pleasant alternative to cold, bustling, Northern metropolitan centers. As a cousin of the Whites puts it when she calls from Philadelphia to announce she'll be visiting overnight, "'I've heard so much about Southern hospitality. Now I will be able to experience it for myself'" (Mama, 48).

The language in Bailey White's writings also delights, especially her characters' manner of speaking, which contains many curious Southern expressions. My friends certainly would not say "persnickety" (Sleeping, 125), "doodlebugs" (Sleeping, 9), "junkets" (Mama, 60), describe a club as a "tough juke joint" (Mama, 3), or say, "'She sho' ain't gon' ride no ferry here'" (Mama, 62)!

Unlike our male-dominated society, strong women dominate White's world. The women are independent, with no need for marriage. They handle everything themselves, even if it means crawling under the house in "high-topped boots laced up tight, a turtleneck shirt, and a ski mask" (to protect oneself from spiders, of course) to move the telephone jack (Mama, 34). All of the characters in White's books are unmarried, which appears to be all right with the women, but the not-so-strong men express a longing to be married. As Dean Routhe repeatedly said, "Men need wives" (Plums, 211). Ever since Ethel left Roger "the women in town have worried about Roger.... Hilma and Meade discuss him at their weekly readings. Eula frets over his welfare--not to mention his appetite" (Haddock). Within one year after Ethel left Roger, Ethel has two men lusting after her while another woman has left Roger.

Critics notice the slow pace, saying, "nothing much happens [in Plums]" (Publishers Weekly, 30 March 1998), "the characters don't do a lot [in Plums]" (Friedman), and "Sleeping at the Starlite Motel celebrates the value...of lives that proceed at their own pace" (Fichtner).

Modern society is in the Information Age, in which technology demands more and more of us. The average workweek is 49 hours, and many so-called successful lawyers, doctors, and businessmen frequently work ten, twenty, or even thirty hours more. Even to reach the hiring stage takes a competitive drive and long hours studying. It is not surprising, then, when Bailey says, "Over the generations my family has metastasized from that hill to lower spots all over the county. Once members of the leisure class, we are now farmers, carpenters, teachers, and mechanics" (Mama, 54). Bailey's Aunt Eleanor recalls, after a minor plumbing disaster of her own, how great-uncle Melville " 'Shot right through the ceiling medallion...and landed in the tomato aspic'" (Sleeping, 9). Bailey admits, "There's no denying that our family fortune frittered away, the big house sold. We are probably not up to a second-floor plumbing disaster involving chandeliers and crown moldings" (Sleeping, 10), which is what Aunt Eleanor says shows style, class, and breeding.

Southerners are known for their slow speech, their Southern drawl (especially slow compared to fast-talking New Yorkers). In White's books the way of life is also slowed-down, with little pressure and plenty of time to pursue activities important to the characters.

eorgia, in the backwoods, White's characters are allowed to do what they please without judgment from neighboring yuppies glaring down from their balconies. The village "...is a place where they are kind to one another and indulgent of eccentricities" (Publishers Weekly, 30 March 1998). The result is "endearing true stories about rural South Georgia" (Publishers Weekly, 1 March 1993) on subjects as quirky as bathtubs and Porsches on porches, backyard camping, and road-kill suppers. After remodeling their bathroom Bailey and Mama find that their bathtub won't fit in it anymore. Instead of installing a shower, they leave the bathtub on the porch. Bailey explains that "with the midsummer's afternoon breeze blowing through the high pine woods and the fragrance of the lilies, it's a lovely spot for a leisurely bath" (Mama, 25). Joining the bathtub on the porch is a 1958 Model 356 Speedster in original condition, because the driver refused to "'just park it out behind the garden with those two tractors an

Some common words found in the essay are:
Aunt Eleanor, Bailey Mama, Roger Ethel, Meade Hilma, Publishers Weekly, Fichtner Doing, Mama Sleeping, White Mama, Reminding Bailey, Bailey White's, publishers weekly, aunt eleanor, publishers weekly 30, white's characters, white's books, 30 march 1998, 30 march, weekly 30 march, march 1998, weekly 30, rural south, bailey white's, characters white's, sleeping 10 aunt, ethel left roger,
Approximate Word count = 2359
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)