Reviewed by Allen Mendenhall Emigration to Liberia is the story of the nearly 500 African-Americans who left Columbus, Georgia, and Eufaula, Alabama, from 1853 to 1903, to emigrate to Liberia, the West African nation that was founded in 1822 by United States colonization. Matthew F.K. McDaniel marshals evidence from written correspondence and newspapers to piece […]
Donna Meredith Interviews George Weinstein
January 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment
DM: I read this novel right after finishing The Whistling Season, by Ivan Doig. A struggling rural family and community stand at the center of Doig’s novel and yours. Yet they couldn’t be more different. The adults in Hardscrabble Road have a severe deficiency of parenting skills. Many types of abuse occur in this novel, from […]
“Hardscrabble Road,” by George Weinstein
January 2, 2013 by 1 Comment
Reviewed by Donna Meredith Hardscrabble Road, by George Weinstein, is a hard novel to read—not because it is poorly written, but because the MacLeod family at the heart of the story is so dysfunctional that at times it makes you want to cry. The tale is set in South Georgia during the Depression. Yet it […]
“Whispering Tides,” by Guido Mattioni
October 16, 2012 by 1 Comment
Reviewed by Patricia O’Sullivan. Italians Alberto Landi and his wife, Nina, love to travel, and their favorite destination is Savannah, Georgia. In fact, they go there so often that they are made honorary citizens by Savannah’s mayor. When Nina dies, Alberto can no longer live in Italy because the memories of her are too painful. […]
“Sea Change,” by Karen White
September 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Review by Donna Meredith Though the back of the book hails Karen White as “the ultimate voice of women’s fiction,” Sea Change is more of a paranormal romance than women’s fiction. What’s the difference? While women’s fiction may have romantic elements, other issues of women’s lives take precedence, such as female empowerment or relationships […]
“Baptizing the Cat,” by Roberta George
August 29, 2012 by 1 Comment
Reviewed by Niles Reddick Baptizing the Cat by Roberta George is a psychological and realistic novel set in St. Petersburg, Florida in a beach front condo complex and told through the warped perspective of Phillip Craine, a mediocre artist who lives off the monthly stipend from his in-laws’ candy company money. A dysfunctional family portrait […]