Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro “This isn’t what Isaac Harewood hoped to buy with his money.” Not at all. Rather, in Wet Work, the latest novel by Tallahassee’s award-wining author Donna Meredith, Harewood expects to purchase a falsehood and restore his wealth at the expense of the well-being of the unsuspecting public. By donating millions […]
Claire Matturro
April 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment
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 […]