Claire Hamner Matturro was raised on tales of errant kith and kin, whiskey making, and ghosts. Inspired by such stories, she wanted to be a novelist, but pursued more gainful and steady employment first. She’s been a newspaper reporter, a lawyer, and taught at Florida State University College of Law and as a visiting professor of […]
“Down and Out in Bugtussle, The Mad Fat Road to Happiness,” by Stephanie McAfee
March 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Amy Susan Wilson Down and Out in Bugtussle, The Mad Fat Road to Happiness, by Stephanie McAfee, is hilarious. It is not merely a “chick-lit” exploration of female issues—it resonates not only because of its superbly crafted world of women who create a sense of community for themselves, but also because it explores […]
March Read of the Month: “Kids These Days,” by Drew Perry
March 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Matt Simmons Perhaps no trope is as evocative of southern writing as the “sense of place,” a concept that can be both incredibly limiting and powerfully productive in how we read about and respond to the American South. On the one hand, this trope may force us to read in search of southern […]
“Reparation,” by Ruth Rodgers
February 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Donna Meredith Ruth Rodgers’s debut novel, Reparations, tells the poignant story of a friendship in the 1940s between two girls—one black, one white. Yes, it’s another story with race relations at its center, a story the South must tell and retell because each iteration takes us one step further toward understanding and healing […]
The Honorable Terry Lewis, A Literary Judge
December 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment
By Donna Meredith What surprises most people about Terry Lewis is not that he can only carve out five hours a week for writing legal thrillers. It’s that he can find any time at all. Lewis has been a circuit court judge in the Second Judicial Circuit of Florida since 1998 and was a county […]