Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Tina Chambers

River of Loss

Anna Quindlen’s latest novel considers the impact one life can make

In her 10th novel, After Annie, author Anna Quindlen starts things off with a bang: the shocking sudden death of the title character. Quindlen will discuss the book at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 14.

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The Life They Were Supposed to Live

A young enslaved woman in New Orleans finds a way to fight back

In his novel The American Daughters, Maurice Carlos Ruffin tells the story of Adebimpe, known as Ady, a young, enslaved woman living in New Orleans just before the Civil War, and the underground network of powerful women to whom she is introduced. Ruffin will appear at Novel in Memphis on March 1 and The Bookshop in Nashville on April 18.

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Good Fortune

It was a weirdly specific message to get from a cookie

FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: Divorce is an ugly business — at least it was for me. I felt as though everything in my life was broken: my home, my family, even my sanity. I didn’t know it then, but far from being over, my life was about to get interesting.

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The Safest Place in the World

Alan Gratz’s new novel for young readers explores the events of December 7, 1941

“I was afraid. Of pretty much everything. There were a hundred ways to die at Pearl Harbor,” admits 13-year-old Frank, the main character and narrator of Heroes: A Novel of Pearl Harbor, the latest in Alan Gratz’s series of action-packed historical novels for young readers. Gratz will appear at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on February 25. 

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Loving the Ways You’ve Changed

The ups and downs of 40+ years in a same-sex relationship

In The Way from Me to Us, Mike Coleman recounts his challenges and personal growth as a gay man, both in his early life and through more than 40 years with his husband.

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Blazing the Trail

The story of the TSU Tigerbelles’ triumph over discrimination

Aime Alley Card’s extraordinary book, The Tigerbelles: Olympic Legends from Tennessee State, describes the women’s track and field program at Tennessee State University from its humble beginnings to the triumphant performance of Wilma Rudolph and her teammates at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Card will discuss The Tigerbelles at Parnassus Books in Nashville on January 3.

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