Reviewed by Philip K. Jason This review originally appeared in Florida Weekly. It is reprinted here with the permission of Florida Weekly. This sequel to Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women’s Literary Society (2012) should satisfy those who filled the many book club appearances through which the earlier title was effectively marketed. It inches […]
“Miss Dreamsville and the Lost Heiress of Collier County,” by Amy Hill Hearth
October 21, 2015 by Leave a Comment
September Read of the Month: “The Wiregrass,” by Pam Webber
August 31, 2015 by 1 Comment
Reviewed by Phil Jason It’s 1969 and helicopters drum above the town of Crystal Springs, Alabama twice a day. At ten each morning they leave Fort Rucker for a training field: Field 10. Twelve hours later, the choppers leave in formation to make the return trip. The scheduled explosions of light and noise define the […]
July Read of the Month: “A Tree Born Crooked,” by Steph Post
July 8, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Phil Jason I almost missed this one, which is among the most original and striking Florida novels I’ve encountered in my almost nine years of walking this beat. No gorgeously hued Sunshine State here. This is the Florida of grit and grime state: the North Florida that is really Southern, rather than the […]
April Read of the Month: “Sewing Holes,” by Darlyn Finch Kuhn
April 15, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Donna Meredith Like many Southern novels, Sewing Holes explores a somewhat dysfunctional family facing challenges and loss. Yet Darlyn Finch Kuhn’s refreshing approach to this material results in a novel more heartwarming than tragic, more uplifting than gloomy. Narrator Tupelo Honey Lee is known by her middle name—for obvious reasons. Set in 1975 […]
Allen Mendenhall Interviews Tom Turner, Author of “Palm Beach Nasty”
March 26, 2015 by Leave a Comment
AM: Hi, Tom. Thanks for talking to us about your new novel, Palm Beach Nasty. It’s a crime thriller, and we don’t have a chance to feature many crime thrillers—a genre that’s very popular. What brought you to the genre? TT: Thanks for interviewing me, Allen. In answer to your question: Honestly, when I started […]
“Heart of Palm,” by Laura Lee Smith
January 27, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Phil Jason Reprinted, with permission, from Florida Weekly. This is the one I’ve been waiting for. The big surprise. A debut novel set in Florida that has it all: family, community, dreams, secrets, the best kind of local color, tragedy, humor, hatred, compassion, love, change. It’s 2008. Arla Bolton Bravo, of the fashionable […]