Two families – one white, one black – both devoted to the land they’ve farmed together and to one another. Two brothers – one a loyal suitor, one a philanderer. Two sisters – one a refined Southern beauty, one a tree-climbing nonconformist. Stir into the mix a handsome stranger restoring a nearby farm to its […]
“Apothecary 709” by Cristen E. Rose
June 19, 2024 by Leave a Comment
If you are seeking a delicious escape from disheartening news about elections and climate change, you won’t find a better one than the utterly enchanting novel Apothecary 709 (Happy Cat Press 2023). In her debut novel, Cristen E. Rose builds an amazingly detailed, gorgeous story world with fairies, shadows and changelings. This gaslamp fantasy opens […]
“Key West Sketches: Writers at Mile Zero” edited by Carey Winfrey
June 18, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Key West Sketches: Writers at Mile Zero (Blair 2023), edited by Carey Winfrey, is an engaging, well written collection of short stories, poetry, and fiction by some well-known writers as well as lesser known but still outstanding ones—all with connections to Key West. Even though there are some familiar names, some materials in this anthology […]
“A Rose in Little Five Points” by Deidre Ann DeLaughter
June 17, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Set in Atlanta, Deidre Ann DeLaughter’s engaging second novel, A Rose in Little Five Points, sprawls across the 70s and 80s, examining widely divergent themes like immigration, the AIDS epidemic, and women’s roles in both the family and the workplace. Protagonist Meredith Fields struggles with self-esteem issues, or what she calls “the three-headed FearGuiltShame self-recrimination […]
“Small Town Big Secrets” by Dee Harris
June 17, 2024 by Leave a Comment
While it might sound like Small Town Big Secrets (Atlantic Publishing 2022) is a breezy summer read, there’s a lot going on in Dee Harris’s novel. When Ora Collins misses church (“the first time in fourteen years”), everyone who has ever lived in a small town will know that something is greatly amiss. This time […]
“Fish Streets before Dawn: Poems” by Rick Campbell
June 15, 2024 by Leave a Comment
In a new collection by accomplished poet Rick Campbell, Fish Streets before Dawn: Poems (Press53 2024), evocative settings underscore themes of aging, the fragility of life, and inevitability of change and death. The first section is titled “Alligator Point” after the Florida gulf front community where Campbell lives. “The Wild Lament of Saint Teresa” describes […]