Queen of Memphis Summary: LuAnn Collier, a small-town beauty queen from the Delta, has eloped with Burniss Winnforth, the most sought-after bachelor in Memphis, and her new mother-in-law Maggie is furious. The Winnforths are the leaders of Memphis society, and the Colliers are what Maggie considers “common,” a bunch of low-class gamblers or worse, so […]
Ethel Morgan Smith
December 30, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Ethel Morgan Smith writes creative nonfiction and historical fiction. She has published three books: Path to Grace: Reimagining the Civil Rights Movement. (August 2023) winner of the 2023 Eudora Welty Prize; From Whence Cometh My Help: The African American Community at Hollins College (2000 & 2017); and Reflections of the Other: Being Black in Germany […]
“When Cicadas Cry” by Caroline Cleveland
December 30, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Written by an attorney, When Cicadas Cry (Union Square & Co. 2024) is an interesting legal thriller with enough lawyering to satisfy fans of the genre plus plenty of mystery to engage “whodunit” fans. Author Caroline Cleveland closely tracks the legal thriller formula in the early pages, but then she dashes headfirst into a suspenseful cold-case […]
Elizabeth Soule
December 30, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Elizabeth Soule is a writer of young adult fiction living on the Gulf Coast of Florida with her husband and two young daughters. With a B.A. in Theatre Arts and a background teaching art and elementary school, she brings an aspect of the artistic world to all her writing––especially as it relates to introspective teens […]
“Remembering Paule: A Photo Memoir of Her Richmond Years” by Daryl Cumber Dance
December 30, 2024 by Leave a Comment
I loved reading Remembering Paule: A Photo Memoir of Her Richmond Years, by Daryl Cumber Dance. This moving memoir with photos is about the enduring friendship between African American novelist Paule Marshall and African American Folklorist and literary critic Daryl Cumber Dance. The narrative moves mostly in chronicle sequence. The book is written in eight […]
“We Are Animals: Essays on the Nature and Politics of Motherhood” by Jennifer Case
December 30, 2024 by Leave a Comment
We Are Animals: Essays on the Nature and Politics of Motherhood (Trinity University Press 2024) by Jennifer Case is a collection of essays containing sharp observations and poignant revelations about what it means to be a mother, or child-bearing mammal, in today’s society. Case explores the many ways in which women, when faced with pregnancy, must […]