“Good Eye, Bad Eye” by Jeanne Malmgren

Readers of Jeanne Malmgren’s engaging memoir, Good Eye, Bad Eye, will find the universal themes and the clarity of her writing style appealing.  From her personal story of trauma following a childhood eye injury, life truths emerge as Jeanne struggles to find her way in the world. This is not another poor-pitiful-me memoir. Instead, it […]

Donna Meredith interviews Sara Warner, author of “Horse People”

Introduction: While I haven’t met Sara Warner in person that I can recall, she did live in Tallahassee for a time, as do I, so I have been aware of her as a writer. I recall meeting her husband Pete LeForge, who is also a writer, at an event sponsored years ago by the Leon […]

May 2025 Books of Note: Jim Melvin’s “Do You Believe in Magic?” and Jack Woodville London’s “Dangerous Latitudes”

Do You Believe in Magic? (Green Bird Publishing 2025) by Jim Melvin is a highly imaginative fantasy novel starring three thirteen year olds who find themselves transformed from middle school outsiders into leaders with special powers when they travel through a portal into a parallel world. Billed as “Book One of the Dark Circle Trilogy,” […]

“Horse People” by Sara Warner

Horse People  (2025) by Sara Warner is absolutely everything a stellar book should be. At times it moved me to tears. Other times the actions of villainous characters left me nauseous. I am a dog person and don’t know horses, yet I fell in love with the horses in this novel. Sara Warner helped me […]

Read of the Month: “The Bright Years” by Sarah Damoff

The Bright Years (Simon & Schuster 2025) by Sarah Damoff shimmers as an exquisite, poignant portrait of a family crumbling as their painful pasts push their way into the present. It is a story of addiction and recovery. Of love and loss. Of forgiveness and redemption. Set in Texas, The Bright Years takes readers on […]

SLR editors converse with Robert Bailey, author of “The Boomerang”

Introduction: Southern Literary Review is pleased to present this three-way exchange about Robert Bailey’s newest book, The Boomerang, which is his eleventh novel. Robert joins Editor Donna Meredith and Associate Editor Claire Hamner Matturro in discussing The Boomerang, a political thriller that had Donna and Claire both going “Wow” when they read it. Robert is […]