Perspective: Church hats take on a regal glory

"When the Apostle Paul wrote an open letter to the Corinthians (I Corinthians 11:5)," writes Craig Marberry, who conducted the interviews for this book, "decreeing that a woman cover her head when at worship to symbolize her obedience to God and the church hierarchy, he could not have imagined the flamboyance with which African-American women would comply. For generations, black women have interpreted the Apostle Paul's edict with boundless passion and singular flair, wearing platter hats, lampshade hats, why'd-you-have-to-sit-in-front-of-me hats, often with ornaments that runneth over.

"These captivating hats are not mere fashion accessories. Neither, despite their biblical roots, are they solely religious headgear."

The women he talked with, Marberry notes, own an average of 54 hats each.

Michael Cunningham chose to photograph the women in black and white: "I didn't want the photographs to feel or look like fashion photos," he writes. "I thought that the black-and-white medium would create a look of fine art."

Young, old and in-between, the women in Crowns are dressed to the nines. Every photograph bids the reader to linger on a face; every woman's story enlightens and entertains.

Says Shirley Manigault, 49: "When you present yourself before God . . . there should be excellence in all things, including your appearance."

Peggy Knox, 58: "Over the years, you learn ways to keep your hat on your head. Don't let people touch the hat. Don't let people knock the hat. Don't let people hug too close. Those are the hat-queen rules. Don't break 'em."

Dolores Foster, age unrevealed: "You can flirt with a fan in your hand. . . . You can flirt holding a cigarette, too. But a woman can really flirt with a hat."

Crowns is sure to delight all those who linger in its pages.

BUTTERFLY SUNDAY, by David Hill (Delacorte Press, $37.95)

Easter would seem a peculiar day on which to commit a murder, especially if you are a preacher's wife planning to do away with your husband, but Easter Sunday 2000 is precisely the day on which Leona Sayres figures her husband, Averill, will drop dead. She has been lacing the good reverend's meals with rat poison over several days, and she figures the arsenic's cumulative effects will kick in sometime that afternoon, after he has partaken of a bounteous, toxic holiday lunch.

Leona has targeted the day of the celebration of Christ's Resurrection for practical reasons: The parsonage sits in the Mississippi woods, and there is little highway traffic after church lets out. The likelihood that her crime will be discovered is thus diminished.

She has motive for doing him in, and their miserable marriage is the core of David Hill's new novel. Its characters include cunning businessmen, troubled young girls, greedy in-laws and lusty neighbors.

Butterfly Sunday has as many twists and turns as a mountain road and may be the best blend of sex and religion since Elvis. Beyond the crimes, misdemeanors, revelry and high jinks, there may also be a happy ending.

BLESS YOUR HEART, TRAMP, by Celia Rivenbark (Coastal Carolina Press, $11.95 paperback)

TURN SOUTH AT THE NEXT MAGNOLIA: Directions From a Lifelong Southerner, by Nan Graham (Coastal Carolina Press, $11.95 paperback)

Celia Rivenbark, whose columns have been syndicated by the New York Times News Service and Knight-Ridder Tribune News Services, and Nan Graham, who teaches English at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and whose commentaries are heard on public radio station WHQR, share more than an area code and a publisher.

Both are bright, witty and warm, and those qualities shine through their collections of essays. Their styles and voices may differ, but their observations about life in general and Southern life in particular are the sort of stories that make a desperate gift-giver weep glad tears of relief.

Isn't there always someone on your list who appears to have everything, wants nothing and may be tender of constitution? Each book offers a pleasing blend of spice, humor and memories, packaged in short bites.

- Mary Jane Park is a Times assistant newsfeatures editor.

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