Novel Summary: A baby. It’s the one thing Romie Grodin, orphaned at thirteen, wants more than anything else in the world. A real homeplace. It’s what her coal-mining husband Jasper wants—needs—to provide for his family. When the couple’s best friend—their only “family”—is hurt in a mining accident and his wife becomes addicted to drugs, Romie and Jasper must […]
BettyJoyce Nash interviews Carla Damron, author of “Justice Be Done”
February 24, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Introduction: A social worker, Carla Damron is also an award-winning fiction writer. Her latest book is Justice Be Done (Bella Rosa Press 2023). Her titles also include The Orchid Tattoo (National Indie Excellence Award) and The Stone Necklace (Women Fiction Writers Award, also chosen as One Community Read for Columbia, S.C.) BettyJoyce Nash writes fiction in Charlottesville, […]
Southern Literary Review Editor Donna Meredith interviews Phyllis Gobbell, author of “Prodigal”
February 3, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Novel Summary It’s the Fourth of July, 2000. In a small Southern town, fireworks light the sky above the City Park, while down the street a smaller flash of light changes everything for 19-year-old Connor Burdette. He has just lost the girl he loves. Now, buying beer at the Back Home Market, he becomes an […]
Donna Meredith interviews Clay Shwab, author of “Manny Shwab and the George Dickel Company: Whisky, Power and Politics During Nashville’s Gilded Age”
December 7, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Book Summary Manny Shwab and the George Dickel Company: Whisky, Power and Politics During Nashville’s Gilded Age (McFarland 2024) There was once a Tennessee whiskey that dwarfed Jack Daniel’s, and a powerful man was behind it: V.E. “Manny” Shwab. Until now, virtually nothing has been written about either. Their story is one of a Jewish […]