Whiskey In a Teacup

Reese Witherspoon

2018 • 304 pages

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Average rating4

Academy Award–winning actress, producer, and entrepreneur Reese Witherspoon invites you into her world, where she infuses the southern style, parties, and traditions she loves with contemporary flair and charm. Reese Witherspoon’s grandmother Dorothea always said that a combination of beauty and strength made southern women “whiskey in a teacup.” We may be delicate and ornamental on the outside, she said, but inside we’re strong and fiery. Reese’s southern heritage informs her whole life, and she loves sharing the joys of southern living with practically everyone she meets. She takes the South wherever she goes with bluegrass, big holiday parties, and plenty of Dorothea’s fried chicken. It’s reflected in how she entertains, decorates her home, and makes holidays special for her kids—not to mention how she talks, dances, and does her hair (in these pages, you will learn Reese’s fail-proof, only slightly insane hot-roller technique). Reese loves sharing Dorothea’s most delicious recipes as well as her favorite southern traditions, from midnight barn parties to backyard bridal showers, magical Christmas mornings to rollicking honky-tonks. It’s easy to bring a little bit of Reese’s world into your home, no matter where you live. After all, there’s a southern side to every place in the world, right?

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Allie

First things first: yes, this is a very white, upper-class version of the South, and it does sit pretty close to the surface as far as what “Southern” means (I mean, Dolly Parton yes, and like six ways to say “bless your heart” with different inflections and have it mean different things, sure, but none of this is new).

I did take photos of some of the recipes, since I have to give this back to my mom and there were a few I'd like to try. And I did like the glimpses of Witherspoon's grandparents and the lessons they taught her. The photos were pretty, the decor was pretty, her outfits were pretty. And um, damn it seems like white upper-class Southern ladies throw a lot of parties?

I think I've mentioned this in other reviews, but I don't need authors to harp on atrocities that have nothing to do with their book subjects, and I at least appreciated that Witherspoon at least seems to be aware of her level of privilege, but it would have been nice if she had mentioned at all, in any way, that her version of the South is idealized, and could not exist if not for the institution of slavery. She does mention a few books by black authors, and focuses briefly on black beauty parlors in the chapter on hot-rollering one's hair. So she's not unaware, it just feels like it's not really part of her life. (I'm trying to decide then, was it worth including at all, if there's no acknowledgement of history?)

I liked it well enough to talk to my mom about it, which is about what I expected.

September 11, 2022