Karen Spears Zacharias’s novel No Perfect Mothers imagines the life of Carrie Buck, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court Case upholding the constitutionality of eugenics-inspired, forced sterilization. As Zacharias observes in the acknowledgments, “The book is important at this pivotal time as women seek to reclaim what the Supreme Court has once again taken from […]
“Daughters of Chaos” by Jen Fawkes
October 1, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Daughters of Chaos (Overlook Press 2024) by Jen Fawkes begins at the end, in 1877, with Sylvie’s graveside promise to her longtime partner: “ ‘I’m going to write it all down, Hannah,’ I said as I knelt beside her grave, my fingertips piercing the cool earth. ‘Maybe I’ll give it to the girls. Maybe I […]
“Hell Put to Shame, the 1921 Murder Farm Massacre and the Horror of America’s Second Slavery” by Earl Swift
May 15, 2024 by Leave a Comment
If you’re noticing the 1921 date in the subtitle of Hell Put to Shame (Mariner Books 2024) and thinking debt “peonage” is a past atrocity, forget it. Also known as debt slavery, the practice lives on, often targeting poor, unemployed, and homeless people. Today, it’s often immigrants. In 2010, a federal grand jury, author Earl […]
“Everybody Here is Kin” by BettyJoyce Nash
April 17, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Everybody Here is Kin is a literal storm brewing in the middle of a place called Boneyard Island. This is supposed to be Lucille’s birthday trip onward to Key West, and the island a destination to bury her father’s ashes. Instead, her mother takes off with a new man, leaving a note: See you Wednesday…I’ll […]
“Everybody Here is Kin” by BettyJoyce Nash
January 30, 2024 by 1 Comment
Everybody Here is Kin (Madville Publishing 2023) by BettyJoyce Nash is a moving, well-written literary story about family—the ones we are born into and the ones we create. It is also a finely tuned tale of a tight-knit community living on a small barrier island off the coast of Georgia—a place where the year-round islanders […]