Vanessa Riley offers a stunning picture of Haiti’s history and founding through the eyes of several key women in her novel Sister Mother Warrior (William Morrow 2022). Riley’s superb research and careful crafting of characters bring the story of Haiti’s liberation from foreign rule to life. Riley, the 2023 Georgia Author of the Year for […]
September Read of the Month: “Sister, Mother, Warrior” by Vanessa Riley
September 10, 2023 by Leave a Comment
August Read of the Month: “Moonrise Over New Jessup” by Jamila Minnicks
August 2, 2023 by 1 Comment
Moonrise Over New Jessup (Algonquin Books 2023) is a beautifully written, thought-provoking novel about courageous people at the cusp of historical changes. It is the debut novel of Jamila Minnicks, a lawyer and writer. Within all its layers of conflict, it rings with authenticity. Set in a fictional all-Black community of New Jessup in Alabama […]
July Read of the Month: “Deeper than African Soil” by Faith Eidse
July 5, 2023 by Leave a Comment
Deeper than African Soil (Masthof Press, 2023) by Faith Eidse is a most unusual and exceptionally fine memoir. No wonder Florida State University recognized it with the Kingsbury Award, given annually to a graduate student who demonstrates lasting intellectual value in writing, and with the English Department’s Ann Durham Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award. Several chapters […]
Read of the Month: “Red Clay Suzie” by Jeffrey Dale Lofton
May 30, 2023 by Leave a Comment
Named as one of the most anticipated LGBTQIA+ books of 2022 by Lambda Lambda Literary and winner of the Seven Hills Literary Prize for Fiction, Red Clay Suzie (Post Hill Press) was absolutely captivating. Calling it a page-turner does not do it justice, though its short chapters, sometimes only a few pages in length, make […]
May Read of the Month: “Only Oona” by Tamatha Cain
May 3, 2023 by Leave a Comment
Tamatha Cain’s Only Oona (Orange Blossom Publishing, 2023) is not only a remarkable woman’s story; this outstanding historical novel shines as a glittering Who’s Who in the 1940s. With impeccable research, Cain brings Oona O’Neill Chaplin to life, stretching from her early years in the Bermuda countryside to teen years roaming the streets of Manhattan […]
A Conversation on the April Read of the month: “The Bystanders” by Dawn Major
April 5, 2023 by 1 Comment
Southern Literary Review congratulates Associate Editor Dawn Major on the publication of her debut novel, The Bystanders (Mooncove Press, 2023). SLR’s Editor Donna Meredith and Associate Editor Claire Matturro discuss Dawn Major’s novel, The Bystanders. DM: The first chapter begins with the archetype of a stranger coming to town. In this case, the strangers […]