Most times in life when things seem too good to be true, they are. Such is the case in Emily Carpenter’s latest novel, Gothictown (Kensington, 2025). If you liked Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery,” you are bound to enjoy the mysteries hidden behind the innocent façade of Gothictown. Carpenter begins the novel with brief […]
“Devil’s Defense” by Lori Duff
January 13, 2025 by Leave a Comment
A large dollop of romance sweetens the serious ethical concerns and women’s issues highlighted in Devil’s Defense (She Writes Press 2024), an entertaining legal novel penned by Lori B. Duff. Duff is a Georgia resident who has been a judge and lawyer for over thirty years. Frustrated by the unrealistic courtroom depictions and misrepresentations of […]
January Read of the Month: “Queen of Memphis” by Martin Hegwood
January 1, 2025 by Leave a Comment
By mixing dark secrets reminiscent of Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! with the strong sense of place Conroy created in South of Broad and the class distinctions depicted in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Martin Hegwood has crafted a truly iconic multi-generational novel, Queen of Memphis (Spanish Moss Publishing LLC 2024). The manuscript deservedly won the first-place award in […]
“Beware the Tall Grass” by Ellen Birkett Morris
December 18, 2024 by Leave a Comment
It’s easy to see why Ellen Birkett Morris’s enchanting debut novel, Beware the Tall Grass (Columbus State University 2024), won The Donald L. Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence. The novel expertly entwines two moving tales, that of Eve Sloan, a mother trying desperately to understand and protect her son Charlie circa 2010; and that of […]
2024 Book of the Year
December 15, 2024 by Leave a Comment
2024 Book of the Year WOFFORD’S BLOOD By Donna Coffey Little Wofford’s Blood (Mercer University Press 2024) is a stunning work of historical fiction based on the life of James Daugherty (J. D.) Wofford, a half White, half Cherokee, who became a conductor and interpreter on the Trail of Tears. Outstanding research underlies […]