The Light Pirate (Grand Central, 2022) debuted less than a year ago as an immediate Good Morning America Book Club Pick. Anyone reading this sophomore novel by acclaimed author Brooks-Dalton will understand why—not only is it artfully written and carefully crafted, it takes what was once dystopian climate fiction and twists it, tornado-like, into a […]
January Read of the Month: “Traces” by Patricia L. Hudson
January 3, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Combining the action of the finest suspense novels with the intense family drama of the best women’s fiction, Patricia Hudson’s historical novel Traces (University of Kentucky Press 2022) is a riveting read underpinned by twenty-five years of impeccable research. The novel was a finalist for the Weatherford Award (losing to Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead) and has […]
“Answering Liberty’s Call” by Tracy Lawson
January 2, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Uncovering the pivotal unsung roles women played in history is a trend that Tracy Lawson continues in Answering Liberty’s Call (Gray Lion Books 2022). In this captivating novel, Anna Stone, a young mother of three, sets out to carry medicine and warm clothing to her husband and brother garrisoned at Valley Forge. The result is […]
“End Times” by John Williams
January 1, 2024 by 1 Comment
Introduction: Southern Literary Review’s Associate Editor Dawn Major met the author of End Times, John Williams, through Reinhardt University’s Etowah Valley MFA Writing Program. Williams was Major’s critical thesis adviser, and he offered her an enormous amount of support and guidance while she wrote her critical thesis about the work of the late author, William […]
“The Halo of Bees: New & Selected Poems 1990-2023” by Michael Hettich
January 1, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Award-winning poet Michael Hettich, a former Florida resident and professor who now lives in North Carolina, has an avid appreciation for nature, domestic life, language, trust in the simple things, and in the often-elusive connections between entities. With intelligence, insight, and occasional wit, Hettich writes superbly on these subjects, and others, in his new 233-page […]
Announcing the 2023 Southern Literary Review Books of the Year
December 27, 2023 by Leave a Comment
The editors of Southern Literary Review select one book each year to receive special recognition. It recognizes books published between October of two years previous to October of the current year. The Book of the Year should Be written by a Southern author or have a Southern setting. Have lasting value as part of the […]