Against the backdrop of the civil rights movement, White Gloves and Collards is the story of a privileged childhood in Edenton, North Carolina, a small southern town that cherishes its customs and history as symbolized by the Confederate Monument at the foot of Broad Street. As she copes with the untimely deaths of her parents, young Helen observes how the community is coping with a different kind of loss-an end to the Jim Crow rules of behavior they've always lived by. With love and support from a brainy older brother, an eclectic extended family (many of whom are segregationists), and a wise African-American maid, she tries to make sense of the changes taking place around her, both in her personal life and in society as a whole.

Helen Pruden Kaufmann, a native of Edenton, NC, graduated from the University of North Carolina with a degree in American History. She was the community liaison for a public school desegregation program in Massachusettes before relocating with her family to California, where she has done writing and editorial work for educational organizations such as the Santa Clara County Office of Education, the Challenge 2000 education initiative of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford. Helen and her husband now live in the San Diego area. Website: helenkaufmann.com