Book Reviews | Chapter 16

Beautiful and Haunting Worlds

William Ferris’s latest collection articulates complex feelings about the rural South

By Susannah Felts | October 4, 2016

The South in Color: A Visual Journal completes a collection of William Ferris’s visual documentary work about his home state and its complicated racial and cultural history. The esteemed scholar of Southern culture will discuss The South in Color at the Cotton Museum in Memphis on October 8 at 6 p.m., and at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 14-16. Festival events are free and open to the public.

The Vault that would Change Their Lives

Megan Abbott’s latest novel mines gymnastics to menacing effect

By Kathryn Justice Leache | October 3, 2016

You Will Know Me, the latest novel from suspense master Megan Abbott, focuses on a gymnastics prodigy and her family as they grapple with an unexpected and tragic accident. Abbott will appear at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 14-16.

The Past Is Waiting

In Ron Rash’s The Risen, two brothers learn that the past is not as distant as they believed

By Emily Choate | September 30, 2016

risen-hc-c Ron Rash’s latest novel, The Risen, brings two brothers into an unexpected confrontation with a romantic interlude they both assumed would remain hidden in the past.

Dark Nights and Dark Streets

Thomas Mullen delivers a hardboiled historical gem

By Randy Fox | September 29, 2016

Thomas Mullen’s new crime novel Darktown is a twisted and tangled ride through big-city corruption and the dark and bloody ground of the Jim Crow South. Mullen will appear at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 14-16.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Randi Pink’s debut, Into White, digs into why being white isn’t that hot

By Lyda Phillips | September 28, 2016

into-white-cover Randi Pink’s debut novel, Into White, is a Cinderella story that goes haywire when Jesus himself decides to grant a black girl’s prayer to become white. Pink will appear at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 14-16.

Her Own Strangeness

A baby girl born with an abnormality faces an uncertain future in Brad Watson’s Miss Jane

By Emily Choate | September 26, 2016

Brad Watson’s Miss Jane follows the life of Jane Chisolm—a woman born in 1915 Mississippi with a genital abnormality—in a character study which also illuminates the rich internal terrain of those who know her best. Brad Watson will discuss Miss Jane at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 14-16. Festival events are free and open to the public.

Tias and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us

By Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez, illustrated by Josie Del Castillo
Seal Press
304 pages
$30

“Within these pages, I found my abuela, my tías and my primas — laughing, crying, and nodding alongside me. This book is a gift of understanding, and loving one’s family, even when our families are complicated and painful. It’s a beautiful reminder of the power of storytelling and the profound connection of kinship.”

~ Paola Mendoza, author, organizer and filmmaker