The devastating effects of mental illness on a family become appalling clear in talented author Pat Spear’s latest novel, Hotel Impala (Twisted Road 2024). Leah’s drastic mood swings bring complete chaos to the lives of her two children—teenage Grace and grade-schooler Zoey—and her husband Daniel. Chaos is not even the worst result of Leah’s instability. […]
Read of the Month: “Without You Here” by Jody Hobbs Hesler
November 6, 2024 by Leave a Comment
With achingly beautiful prose, Jody Hobbs Hesler explores mental illness and the devastating effects of suicide on family members left behind in her novel Without You Here (Flexible Press: 2024). Complicated family dynamics and a troubled marriage are also important themes that make this story set in the Virginia mountains unforgettable. The timeline shifts frequently […]
“A Happier Life” by Kristy Woodson Harvey
November 4, 2024 by Leave a Comment
This is Kristy Woodson Harvey’s eleventh novel. An avid follower of hers, I love this book. I love it the best of all of her books so far; of course I may have said that once or twice before when her previous new ones came out. A Happier Life (Gallery Books 2024) is the story […]
“The Butterfly Cage: Joy, Heartache, and Corruption: Teaching While Deaf in a California Public School” by Rachel Zemach
October 23, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Kelly Kolodny Educational, compelling, and deeply personal. These words describe Rachel Zemach’ poignant and beautifully written memoir, The Butterfly Cage: Joy, Heartache, and Corruption: Teaching While Deaf in a California Public School (Paper Angel Press 2023). In her book, Zemach chronicles her career as a Deaf teacher—work she portrays as joyful, intriguing, and at […]
“Lake County” by Lori Roy
October 21, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Lake County by Edgar Award–winning author Lori Roy (Thomas & Mercer 2024) is a treasure of a historical mystery/thriller suspense novel. The story is well imagined, and charming, even with its violence. Exuberantly paced, it is a complicated work with a dash of noir and a righteous dose of historical Tampa, Florida. Many smaller stories […]
“No Perfect Mothers” by Karen Spears Zacharias
October 15, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Karen Spears Zacharias’s novel No Perfect Mothers imagines the life of Carrie Buck, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court Case upholding the constitutionality of eugenics-inspired, forced sterilization. As Zacharias observes in the acknowledgments, “The book is important at this pivotal time as women seek to reclaim what the Supreme Court has once again taken from […]