The Season

September 30, 2019
Richardson’s immersive debut uncovers the surprisingly long history and stylized rituals of the debutante tradition. Instituted by Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century as a means “to form beneficial social and political alliances,” the ceremonial presentation of aristocratic young ladies at court had morphed, by the mid-18th century, into weekly “assemblies” hosted by “lady patronesses” seeking to match their daughters and nieces with wealthy, socially connected bachelors. In America, Richardson writes, the debutante custom reached its apotheosis as the “defining ritual” of the merchant and professional classes. Drawing from the journals and letters of colonial, antebellum, and Gilded Age debutantes, Richardson portrays young women enjoying—or enduring—their “social seasons.” In a diary account, Albany socialite Huybertie Pruyn recalls being “dragged” by her mother to the 1891 Patriarch Ball, where her escort was “her second cousin, at least 55 years old.” Exploring 20th-century rituals, Richardson reports on Mardi Gras krewes, the relationship between debutante balls and elitism in the African-American community, and the publicity-generating International Ball, held annually at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. A few minor historical errors—Anne Boleyn wasn’t pregnant when Henry VIII sought to annul his first marriage—don’t distract from the fun. This entertaining, eye-opening portrait captures a tradition that is “long dead but will never die.”

October 1, 2019
Richardson's first book expands her popular 2013 Rookie article on the debutante ritual into an engaging exploration of the origins of presenting elite daughters to society and the tradition's evolution over the centuries. After England separated from the Catholic church, young women could no longer take refuge in convents, and society needed a way to handle the excess of daughters of marriageable age. To consolidate power during the tumultuous era that followed, Queen Elizabeth I began meeting with daughters of her favored courtiers in her withdrawing rooms, and such presentations soon became formal rituals. Once established in aristocratic society, debutante traditions moved to the British colonies. Richardson examines the fascinating history surrounding the coming-of-age ritual and the ways in which it reinforced family power, offered upward mobility, and entrenched class structures. She further explores the role of debutantes in African-American society and conducts in-person research on modern debutante practices in the U.S. The Season is a must for readers interested in social history, and all will appreciate Richardson's fluid, descriptive prose.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)