Beyond Buffalo by Betsy Reeder takes readers beyond the deaths and physical destruction caused by the Buffalo Creek disaster to explore the long-term psychological impacts on survivors. The Buffalo Creek flood occurred in Logan County, West Virginia, on February 26, 1972, when three coal slurry impoundment dams fail during heavy rainfall, killing 125 and injuring 1,121. Over 4,000 were left homeless. But […]
Read of the Month: “Prodigal” by Phyllis Gobbell
February 4, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Fireworks, fireflies, and gunfire light up Phyllis Gobbell’s exquisite, poignant novel Prodigal (Histria Fiction 2024). This modern retelling of the prodigal son is, above all, a story of love and forgiveness in a Southern family. A Baptist preacher’s son, nineteen-year-old Connor Burdette flees from his hometown of Montpier, Tennessee, after a boy he is with […]
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 […]
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 […]
December Read of the Month: “Wofford’s Blood” by Donna Coffey Little
December 4, 2024 by 1 Comment
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. Author Donna Coffey Little tells readers in an “Author’s Note” at the beginning that the interviews […]
“The Devil Hath a Pleasing Shape” by Terry Roberts
November 20, 2024 by Leave a Comment
The fabled Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, looms as the intriguing, dark backdrop for Terry Roberts’ novel The Devil Hath a Pleasing Shape (Turner Publishing 10/01/2024). This excellent mystery is the third in the Stephen Robbins Chronicles series. Those familiar with Asheville and those who love mysteries won’t want to miss this engaging […]