Reviewed by Robert Kostuck “I was given a second chance, as were others in this anthology. Some of their lives were changed by trauma, some by incarceration, some by the loss of a loved one, some by marriages gone wrong or by new careers gone right.” —Susan Cushman “The explorer who will not come back […]
October Read of the Month: “Second Blooming,” edited by Susan Cushman
October 1, 2020 by Leave a Comment
May Read of the Month: “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek,” by Kim Michele Richardson
May 1, 2019 by 1 Comment
Reviewed by Philip K. Jason Readers are likely to find Ms. Richardson’s fourth novel to be one of the most original and unusual contributions they will encounter in the realm of the current literature of the American South. Set in the heart of the Great Depression, this engaging story rests on two little-known historical features. […]
“The Sisters of Glass Ferry,” by Kim Michele Richardson
July 26, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Philip K. Jason This spellbinding new novel by the author of Liar’s Bench and GodPretty in the Tobacco Field powerfully blends teenage angst, a rich portrait of the American South, the blessings and curses of twinship, and the inevitably destructive nature of secrets. Ms. Richardson provides rich dosses of sensory imagery, emotional stress, […]
“GodPretty in the Tobacco Field,” by Kim Michele Richardson
April 11, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Philip K. Jason Like its predecessor Liar’s Bench, GodPretty in the Tobacco Field is a powerful coming-of-age story complicated by lingering racial prejudice. The town of Nameless, Kentucky is a place where everyone suffers under the heel of grinding poverty, poor education, and images of a ruthless, punishing God from whom family elders […]
“Liar’s Bench,” by Kim Michele Richardson
April 22, 2015 by 1 Comment
Reviewed by Philip K. Jason This glorious debut novel is one of an unexpectedly fine crop of recent and new Southern fiction. It confronts the tragic persistence of racism and the resilient, transcendent power of the human spirit. It is at once a story of young love, of traditions both poisonous and healing, and of […]