Reviewed by Claire Matturro As with her stunning debut novel, Land Without Mirrors, Marina Brown has, with her newest book, Lisbeth, plumbed the emotional truths of diverse and conflicting characters as they struggle through chaos, peril, and change. Lisbeth is a big, bold, intense, and intensely complex Southern Gothic, with lyrical writing, lushly described settings, […]
“Charlotte’s Story,” by Laura Benedict
Reviewed by Donna Meredith Charlotte’s Story (Pegasus Crime, 2015), by Laura Benedict, takes your classic Southern gothic novel and spices it up a notch with a whodunit. If you like gothic and mystery, this spooky tale is sure to entertain. The story takes place in 1957 in Old Gate, Virginia, on a picturesque estate complete […]
“Dollbaby,” by Laura Lane McNeal
Reviewed by Donna Meredith Dollbaby, Laura Lane McNeal’s debut novel, is a Southern gothic tale with the requisite decaying mansion, locked rooms, long-held secrets, and a sometimes eccentric, sometimes just plain crazy owner named Fannie. Almost-twelve-year-old Ibby Bell finds herself deposited at the door of her grandmother Fannie’s “Queen Anne monstrosity” in New Orleans after […]
“Southern Gothic: New Tales of the South,” Edited by Brian Centrone With Art Design by Jordan Scoggins
Reviewed by Amy Susan Wilson Southern Gothic: New Tales of the South is a much needed anthology of American Southern literature that calls attention to a diverse range of American Southern experiences and issues—primarily contemporary issues and experiences. Edited by Brian Centrone with art design by Jordan Scoggins, these stories and poems by both established […]
January Read of the Month: “Sailing to Alluvium,” by John Pritchard
Reviewed by Michael Pitts In the third installment to the “Junior Ray Saga,” John Pritchard demonstrates his prowess for celebrating the unique world that is the Mississippi Delta. A delightfully obscene and irreverent burlesque tale, Sailing to Alluvium follows the “diktective” work of the loveable Junior Ray Loveblood and his pal Voyd Mudd. As […]
July Read of the Month: “Suite for Three Voices,” by Derek Furr
Reviewed by Cameron Williams In “Starting from Error,” the prelude to Suite for Three Voices (a piece also nominated for the Pushcart Prize), Derek Furr muses, “What if there were an ‘h’ in ‘went,’ as there so often was in my students’ writing? When is involved in went, time rolled up in the past tense, […]