Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro Sean Dietrich’s Stars of Alabama is a beautiful novel, mesmerizing with its complex characters, lush settings, and lyrical language. It is, quite simply, Southern literature at its finest. Written with wisdom, insight, and captivating diction, it is poignant and hopeful, engaging and vivid, full of people who might have died […]
June Read of the Month: “The Final Reckoning,” by Robert Bailey
June 5, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro Robert Bailey pumps up the thrill in legal thriller with the fourth and final book in his series about Professor Thomas McMurtrie, or Tom, a law professor who returns to the active practice of law. While none of the four books in his series lacks action, The Final Reckoning is […]
“Sunset Beach,” by Mary Kay Andrews
May 15, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro Bestselling author Mary Kay Andrews (aka Kathy Hogan Trocheck) created her successful second career by writing books with strong, displaced women who reinvent themselves in the face of struggle. Along with her trademark compelling female protagonists, the books written under the Mary Kay Andrews pen name also feature complicated kith […]
Claire Hamner Matturro Interviews Lisa Patton, Author of “Rush”
May 8, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Rush is a gentle literary novel of the New South involving a diverse group of freshmen co-eds adjusting to college life, facing new challenges, and rushing sororities, each hoping to become members of Alpha Delta Beta. When the sorority sisters and pledges learn that their beloved African-American housekeeper has been denied a promotion due to […]
“Troubles Wedding Caper,” by Jen Talty and “The Truffle with Weddings,” by Laura Durham
April 17, 2019 by 1 Comment
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro Isn’t there something about a cozy mystery and a wedding that makes for a natural nexus between the two? A cozy mystery—a subgenre of crime fiction—is charming, but not without its drama, tension, and suspense, which, it so happens, are also elements of a typical wedding. Thus, within the ever-popular […]