Kevin Brockmeier is the author of the novels The View from the Seventh Layer, The Brief History of the Dead, The Truth About Celia, Things That Fall from the Sky, and two children’s novels. His stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Tin House, McSweeney’s, The Oxford American, The Best American Short Stories, O. Henry Prize Stories and […]
April Read of the Month: The Illumination, by Kevin Brockmeier
April 1, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Click to Buy The Illumination (Pantheon, Feb. 2011) by Kevin Brockmeier Review by Sean Ennis Kevin Brockmeier’s newest novel, The Illumination, describes a world where all physical pain—from injuries or acute disease or chronic ailments—manifests itself as light. A sliced thumb, lung cancer, arthritis, even acne shine in ways to match […]
Velva Jean Learns to Drive, by Jennifer Niven
March 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Click to Buy Velva Jean Learns to Drive, by Jennifer Niven Review by Philip K. Jason Jennifer Niven has fashioned a delightful and probing fiction set in the remote Appalachian communities of North Carolina. We first encounter the title character, Velva Jean Hart, in 1933. She is a ten year old whose mind is […]
Sweet Read: The Peach Keeper, by Sarah Addison Allen
March 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Click to Buy New York Times bestselling author Sarah Addison Allen does it again! Fans of Garden Spells, The Sugar Queen, and The Girl Who Chased the Moon will not be disappointed with Allen’s latest magical novel, The Peach Keeper, due to hit shelves March 22. In trademark style, Allen masterfully weaves a […]
The Queen of Palmyra, by Minrose Gwin
March 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Click to Buy The Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin Review by Rhett DeVane Minrose Gwin’s novel The Queen of Palmyra beautifully captures the delicate tipping point between Florence Forrest’s tormented childhood and young adulthood. At a time when eleven-year-old Flo should be giggling with friends, she is forced instead into the dark […]