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 […]
“The Bullet Swallower” by Elizabeth Gonzalez James
January 29, 2024 by Leave a Comment
The Bullet Swallower (Simon & Schuster 2024) by Elizabeth Gonzalez James is a wild yarn of a story with elements of a classic western adventure invigorated with mystical realism and more than a gloss of karmic turbulence. In short, it’s fascinating. Literary historical fiction at its finest, this is an ambitious novel which more than […]
“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 […]
“Chenneville” by Paulette Jiles
December 19, 2023 by Leave a Comment
Paulette Jiles’ newest one, Chenneville: A Novel of Murder, Loss, and Vengeance (William Morrow 2023) is a fine adaptation of a classic hero’s-journey archetype. It is both an action-oriented adventure story and a splendidly well-written literary novel about a most painful period in our history. As Jiles has successfully done in prior novels, she creates a […]
The Official Southern Literary Review 2023 Holiday Gift Guide
December 6, 2023 by Leave a Comment
No gift is better than a good book, right? Each year Southern Literary Review’s editors let you in on some of their favorite books of the year. Donna’s Picks For readers who enjoy historical fiction: Yellow Wife by Sadeka Johnson (Enslaved woman living with prison master) Only Oona by Tamatha Cain (Charlie Chaplin’s wife) Sister […]
December Read of the Month: “Homelight” by Lola Haskins
December 6, 2023 by Leave a Comment
The poems in Lola Haskins’ newest collection, Homelight (Charlotte Lit Press 2023), are equally elegant and eloquent in their graceful blend of theme, imagery, and language. Elegant in their refined, fluent use of words and eloquent in their visions and messages, these are luminous poems. While some poems are nearly haiku-short, others contain many stanzas, […]