Chapter 16

Believing in the Power of the Heart

Rockvale Writers’ Colony, a new retreat in College Grove, offers writers the time, space, and support they need

By Jennie Fields | April 26, 2019

When my agent asked to see a complete revision of my work-in-progress, I didn’t know whether I could face it again. As with that tangle of cords and cables you stash in the back of your closet just in case you’ll need them, even though you’re not sure what half of them are for, I feared that if I pulled on one cord, the others would tighten into a death knot. How would I ever rewrite the whole book and hand it in on time? Fortunately, I had a plan: I’d apply to Rockvale Writers’ Colony.

With a Russian Accent

A new historical novel by Ariel Lawhon considers the fate of the Grand Duchess Anastasia

By Jennie Fields | March 19, 2018

Adding tension to the well-known story of the Romanovs, Ariel Lawhon constructs her new historical novel of two intertwining tales: one featuring Anastasia, and one featuring Anna Anderson. Lawhon will discuss I Was Anastasia at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 27 and at Novel in Memphis on March 29.

They Looked Away

In The Second Mrs. Hockaday, Susan Rivers has created an original Civil War tale

By Jennie Fields | January 20, 2017

Loosely based on a real incident, The Second Mrs. Hockaday by Susan Rivers is the tale of a pampered seventeen-year-old daughter of a South Carolina plantation owner who marries a widowed Confederate major. Rivers will appear at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on January 25 at 6:30 p.m.

Carrying Disaster on Their Backs

Ruta Sepetys’s new YA novel returns to the ravaged landscape—and people—of World War II

By Jennie Fields | January 27, 2016

January 27, 2016 In Salt to the Sea, Ruta Sepetys—Nashville-based author of the chillingly beautiful 2011 novel, Between Shades of Gray, about a Lithuanian family sent to a Soviet work camp—tells another tale of displacement and tragedy at the end of World War II as the Red Army advances on Prussia. Sepetys will celebrate the book’s launch at Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 2, 2016, at 6:30 p.m.

Repeating History, Yet Again

B.A. Shapiro’s new historical novel eerily evokes the refugee crisis of today

By Jennie Fields | December 4, 2015

December 4, 2015 While a storm rages in our world over the fate of Syrian refugees, B.A. Shapiro’s The Muralist reminds us that history too often repeats itself. The novel is set in pre-WWII New York, where a young Jewish artist desperately tries to obtain American visas for family members living in France and Germany. Shapiro will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on December 9, 2015, at 6:30 p.m.

To Thrive on Exhilaration

A new historical novel by The Paris Wife’s Paula McLain recounts the headlong flight of Beryl Markham

By Jennie Fields | August 3, 2015

August 3, 2015 There are some people for whom society’s rules are a very poor fit. Beryl Markham, the first woman to fly solo from England to North America, was one of them. In Circling the Sun, Paula McLain paints the life of an iconoclastic woman who found the social order far more perplexing than the natural world she adored. McLain will appear at the Nashville Public Library on August 4, 2015, at 6:15 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Camilla and the Caterpillars

By Frances Figart, illustrated by Matt Brass
Smokies Life
68 pages
$14.95

A young girl’s encounter with an extraordinary caterpillar in the Great Smoky Mountains leads her and her family on a quest to plant a national park right in their own backyard.

This environmentally themed chapter book for ages 6 through 11 introduces young readers to important ecological concepts including habitat loss and the interdependence of native species and offers a compelling grassroots solution through native-plant gardening that invites anyone to take part in addressing the growing biodiversity crisis.

~the publisher