Just as we were

by Prudence Mackintosh

When a Texas debutante bows her forehead to the floor in the famous "Texas dip," society columnists all across the country speculate interminably over what it is that sets Texas women apart. But really, how could they know? Even women born and bred in Texas - the daughters of generations of Texans - can't always answer that question. Prudence Mackintosh comes very close to an answer, though, in this endlessly entertaining book. Writing with both a wry sense of humor and an insider's compassion, she offers us a fascinating, nose-against-the-glass look into the world of privileged, educated, well-married, well-connected, and mostly wealthy white Texas women. What really sets these women apart, Ms. Mackintosh tells us, is the comfortable yet demanding path they follow from their idyllic girlhoods to positions of prominence - either in their own right or as the wives, mothers, and daughters of prominent men. In eleven essays, some of which originally appeared in Texas Monthly magazine, she