Helen Avis Drexel was an American silent-film actress and heiress. She rose to prominence through her appearance in the John Berendt non-fictional novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1994), in which she was a composite character named Serena Dawes.
Drexel lived at 17 West Gordon Street in Savannah's Monterey Square
Dorothy Loudon portrayed Serena Dawes in the 1997 film adaptation of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a non-fiction novel by John Berendt. The book, Berendt's first, was published on January 10, 1994, and follows the story of Jim Williams, an antiques dealer on trial for the shooting death of Danny Hansford. Subtitled A Savannah Story, with an initial printing of 25,000 copies, the book became a New York Times Best-Seller for 216 weeks following its debut and remains one of the longest-standing New York Times Best-Sellers.
The cover of the 1994 book, which features the Bird Girl sculpture.
Mercer House. The alleged murder of Danny Hansford occurred in Williams' study – the bottom left room in this photograph. The house is now known as the Mercer Williams House Museum
