Mary Anna Evans has been intriguing readers with her masterful and intelligent mysteries for over two decades. During this time, Mississippi-born Evans earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Exeter and became an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma. […]
“The Wars Between Us and Them” by P. V. LeForge
July 14, 2025 by Leave a Comment
The setting for The Wars Between Us and Them (Back Bay Books, 2025) by P. V. LeForge is Detroit, Michigan—his birthplace. So why is a Southern publication reviewing a novel set so far north? Because LeForge’s parents moved to Florida when he was just an infant and he remained there most of his life. He […]
“The Pursuit of Elena Bradford” by Ann H. Gabhart
July 14, 2025 by Leave a Comment
The Pursuit of Elena Bradford (Revell, 2025) by Ann H. Gabhart is set in the 1840s, a time when societal expectations often stifled women’s talents and ambitions. But Elena Bradford’s mother has a plan—one that could save their family from financial ruin. After her father’s poor financial decisions left them on the brink of losing […]
“Deep Water, Dark Horizons and Other Stories, plus” by Suzanne Hudson
July 2, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Deep Water, Dark Horizons and Other Stories, plus, a sampler of Suzanne Hudson’s literary career, is in honor of her receiving the 2025 Truman Capote Prize. The collection of specially-chosen morsels, published by Joe Taylor (Livingston Press of University of West Alabama) introduced by Sonny Brewer, and dedicated to Joe Formichella, notable pillars of her […]
“Museum of the Soon to Depart” Poetry by Andy Young
July 1, 2025 by Leave a Comment
The eighty-eight pages in Museum of the Soon to Depart (Carnegie Mellon University Press 2024) by Andy Young flow with exquisitely phrased words of grief and loss. Yet, no matter how beautifully written, the poems are nonetheless quite somber. The dying and death of the narrator’s mother from brain cancer, coupled with poems about plagues, […]
“The Medici Curse” by Daco S. Auffenorde
July 1, 2025 by Leave a Comment
A novel set in a Tuscan villa might seem like an odd choice for Southern Literary Review. Obviously, the setting completely misses our locale. Yet The Medici Curse (Scarlet Books 2025) hits the mark because it was penned by a talented Huntsville, Alabama, author Daco S. Auffenorde. The story contains a heavy dose of gothic horror and supernatural […]