Junie (Ballantine 2025) by Erin Crosby Eckstine is a vividly drawn work of historical fiction, set in the antebellum South, which features a complex, fully realized 16-year-old enslaved teen named Junie. While the title character is the heart and soul of the novel, other characters—good, bad, and hovering in between—fill the pages in this haunting, […]
Monroeville Literary Festival Feb. 27-March 1, 2025
February 2, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Where: Monroeville, AL When: February 27 – March 1, 2025 Winners: Cassandra King and Suzanne Hudson! See Monroeville Literary Festival here.
“Secrets of the Devil Vine,” by Faith Kaiser
July 16, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Heather Newcomb Secrets of the Devil Vine is a homecoming narrative, but the home here is built on greed, secrets and abuse. The main character, Abigail Stewart—whose keen point of view drives the plot—returns home to coastal Alabama to seek answers to difficult questions from her childhood. Abby’s search takes readers on a […]
“Never Have I Ever,” by Joshilyn Jackson
December 18, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro With her debut novel some fourteen years ago, Joshilyn Jackson established herself as a phenomenal author. In that debut, gods in Alabama (Warner Books, 2005), pathos, suspense, and humor were well balanced in a story about a young woman gone north, only to return home to Alabama to confront the […]
Allen Mendenhall Interviews Colleen D. Scott, Author of “Everybody Needs a Bridge”
March 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment
AM: Thanks for doing this interview, Colleen. Your first novel is Everybody Needs a Bridge, which you describe as a “work of fiction inspired by actual events.” It follows the story of Erin, a young girl in Alabama who’s growing up roughly a generation after the Civil Rights Movement. You might call it a bildungsroman […]
September Read of the Month: “The Headmaster’s Darlings,” by Katherine Clark
September 5, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Ashley D. Black Most people who are raised in a small, Southern town would agree that preserving local traditions is of the utmost importance to its residents. At times, however, maintaining a town’s customs can prevent the populace from evolving with the rest of the country both politically and culturally. Those who challenge […]