Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl The American poet Hart Crane wrote in a late letter that “[t]here is constantly an inward struggle.” More often than not such is the case with any artist, novelist, poet, sculptor, or wood-worker. Inside the soul, inside the imagination, there’s a stirring, a warring, contradictions of personality, affirmation, enthusiasm, skepticism […]
“The Poisoned Table,” by Diane Michael Cantor
February 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Donna Meredith “I was a slave,” a renowned white actress confesses in Diane Michael Cantor’s captivating historical novel, The Poisoned Table (Mercer University Press, 2015). Private lives are far from what others imagine them to be in this story based on the life of nineteenth-century British actress and writer Fanny Kemble. Events take […]
February Read of the Month: “The Secret to Hummingbird Cake,” by Celeste Fletcher McHale
February 9, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro The Secret to Hummingbird Cake (Thomas Nelson, 2016) by emerging Southern author Celeste Fletcher McHale manages to do a very difficult thing: It spins a loving tale about enduring female friendships in a small town in the Deep South without engaging in stereotypes or sentimentality. Replete with the poignancy of […]
“Valentine’s Day,” by April Kelly
January 27, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Donna Meredith If you enjoy a mystery with a strong injection of humor, you should pick up a copy of Valentine’s Day by April Kelly. With a tone that evokes the best writing of Janet Evanovich, Kelly gifts mystery fans with newly minted private investigator Rick Valentine, a slightly more competent and sexually […]
“Miss Dreamsville and the Lost Heiress of Collier County,” by Amy Hill Hearth
January 20, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl There are ladies with stories to tell, maiden ladies, of course, but also ladies with worldly experience, oral histories for sure, and in the south the stories are most fun when they rub against one another, meandering down and along rivulets until collecting in a main stream. I recall, for […]
“The Professor,” by Robert Bailey
January 13, 2016 by 3 Comments
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro Move over, John Grisham, there’s a new kid on the legal thriller playing field. Robert Bailey, an Alabama trial attorney and graduate of The University of Alabama School of Law, returns the kickoff for a 100 yard touchdown with his debut novel, The Professor. The football reference is apropos as […]