Claire Hamner Matturro has joined the editorial team at Southern Literary Review. Claire was raised on tales of errant, unhinged kith and kin, whiskey making, and the War Between the States. Inspired by such stories, she wanted to be a novelist, but pursued more gainful and steady employment first. Which is to say, she has been a […]
August Read of the Month: “Old Lovegood Girls,” by Gail Godwin
August 12, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro Gail Godwin is a Southern treasure who is both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, counting five best-sellers and three finalists for the National Book Award among her many novels. Born in Alabama, raised in North Carolina, and educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (and later […]
“The Devil’s Bones,” by Carolyn Haines
July 21, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro Best-selling, award-winning author Carolyn Haines writes wickedly entertaining, intelligent, and consistently compelling books, some dark, some cozy, some spiritual, and some just plain fun. In her prolific and diverse writing career, she has authored more than eighty books, including several series and one nonfiction publication. Inducted into the Alabama Writers’ […]
“The Water Keeper,” by Charles Martin
June 11, 2020 by 5 Comments
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro Best-selling author Charles Martin’s newest book, The Water Keeper (Thomas Nelson May 2020), is a compelling classic thriller—with more than one sudden turn and several surprising twists. On the most basic level, it operates like most modern thrillers with plenty of edge-of-your-seat suspense, action, danger, violence, and death-defying moments. The […]
June Read of the Month: “Buried Seeds,” by Donna Meredith
June 2, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro Women through the ages have had to choose between their own needs and those of their families. In her newest book, Buried Seeds (Wild Women Writers, April 2020), award-winning author Donna Meredith takes this basic conflict further by asking how much two women will risk to take strong stands on […]
“Falling Apart, Radiant,” by Mary Jane Ryals
May 13, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro In her newest chapbook, Falling Apart, Radiant, Mary Jane Ryals offers us poems of resiliency which resonate with tenderness and intimacy about what it means to live, suffer, get up and do it all again. Ryals invites her readers in for a close look at her fight against cancer, but […]