Books of the Year will be announced Dec. 18
The editors of Southern Literary Review select several books each year to receive special recognition. It recognizes books published over the previous two years (with October of the current year as the cut-off date for consideration.) Categories are Book of the Year, recognizing a novel or nonfiction full-length work; Short Fiction of the Year, recognizing an outstanding collection of shorter fiction; and Poetry of the Year, recognizing an outstanding collection of poetry.
Finalists for Books of the Year
These are the titles being considered for Books of the Year. Any of these titles would make excellent gifts for the readers on your list.
(Listed in alphabetical order.)
Beyond Buffalo by Betsy Reeder
The Buffalo Creek flood occurred in Logan County, West Virginia, on February 26, 1972, when three coal slurry impoundment dams fail during heavy rainfall, killing 125 and injuring 1,121. Over 4,000 were left homeless. But those are just numbers. Reeder’s extraordinary achievement is to take us inside the shattered life of Ellie, a high school senior, as she and her family work through survivors’ guilt and rebuild their lives.
The Bright Years by Sarah Damroff
The novel masterfully explores the way parents’ patterns of behavior affect their children, how they are often duplicated when the children become parents themselves. Perfectly crafted prose with tender insights into human nature as a family copes with addiction and abuse! The Bright Years also explores the shame and guilt of giving a child up for adoption—and the effect of that decision on everyone touched by it.
Filling the Big Empty by Rhonda Browning White
A tour-de-force, relentlessly examining environmental issues in Appalachia. While never losing focus on a young couple’s relationship, the story drops readers into the horrors of mountaintop removal to extract coal, the clear-cutting of forests, a chemical spill in a river, and opioid addiction. Despite all those problems, the story remains hopeful.
In the Fullness of Time by Terry Roberts
A suspenseful mystery, a tender love story, a meditation on time, and a portrait of a man shaped by honor and the land that raised him. Clinton Salter, the somewhat reluctant sheriff of a rural county in western North Carolina, serves as the novel’s moral and emotional anchor. When a series of crimes shocks the community—including barn burnings, grave desecrations, and the brutal murder of an elderly couple—Clint is determined to bring the perpetrators to justice, no matter who they are.
Lullaby for the Grieving by Ashley Jones
Given the title, it is no surprise that poems about grief dominate the collection, with many poignant verses about the death of a much-beloved father. Yet grief for her father is not the only topic—among the thirty-nine splendid poems in Lullaby for the Grieving, Jones tackles spiritual matters, healing, the strength and comfort of community, the enduring nature of love—and even joy. The poems are intense, musical, vibrant, visceral, and glorious.
The Miniaturist’s Assistant by Katherine Scott Crawford
Part historical fiction, ghost story, romance, mystery, social commentary, this time-slip story is one big rabbit hole and you will become Alice tumbling down into it. Think Charleston: 2004. Now go back to the Charleston of 1804. Very much the same city in terms of architecture, social hierarchy, etc. but one huge difference—slavery. This is a tale where love that transcends time and race—spellbinding, magical, and rampant with possibilities.
Queen of Memphis by Martin Hegwood
In this truly iconic multi-generational novel, Hegwood’s characters clash over their desire for money, power, and prestige. Old moneyed families fight to hold onto what they have and to make sure no sneaky newcomers creep into their tightly controlled social circles. LuAnn Collier, a small-town beauty queen from the Delta, elopes with Burniss Winnforth, the most sought-after bachelor in Memphis. He is old money. LuAnn is nobody. Maybe worse than nobody. Her granddaddy ran a gambling operation and was rumored to own a bawdy house. Let the conflicts begin!
The Summer We Ate Off the China by Devin Jacobsen
These thirteen stories are a dance between comedy and tragedy. Ageism, racism, trauma, rape versus consent, the fallout of school shootings, corporate soul-selling, marital angst—the list goes on and on in this short story collection. The Summer We Ate Off the China is Americana unfiltered, for better or worse.
Criteria
The Book of the Year should:
- Be written by a Southern author or have a Southern setting.
- Have lasting value as part of the Southern literary canon.
- Exhibit artistic worth, literary quality, and originality.
- Employ flawless language that suits the subject matter.
- Engage the reader on each page.
- Be a book deserving of wider recognition.
*Note: Books written by friends of the editors will not be considered for recognition for ethical reasons.
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