Book Reviews | Chapter 16

The Language of the Heart

Vince Vawter’s semi-autobiographical novel for children is about overcoming obstacles

By Tina LoTufo | July 22, 2013

July 22, 2013 “I was an eleven-year-old kid standing on a street corner in Memphis in short pants,” observes the narrator of Vince Vawter’s Paperboy. “I felt like I was so small that I would be blown away if the slightest puff of wind came up. But you didn’t have to worry about any kind of a breeze showing up on a late July afternoon in Memphis.” Paperboy is a rare treat: a gentle coming-of-age story that manages to be smart, funny, poignant, and original—the perfect marriage of style and substance—with a narrative voice that rings true. Vawter will appear at the twenty-fifth annual Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13. All festival events are free and open to the public.

Regaining Altitude

Bobbie Ann Mason returns with a remarkable World War II novel about a downed aviator in Nazi-occupied France

By Ed Tarkington | July 18, 2013

July 18, 2013 Bobbie Ann Mason’s most recent novel is simultaneously a tale of adapting to old age, a charming romance, a food-and-wine tour of Paris and Provence, and a spellbinding World War II suspense thriller. The Girl in the Blue Beret is a richly satisfying page turner and an artful literary novel worthy of a wide audience and a prominent place in its acclaimed author’s award-winning body of work. Mason will appear at the twenty-fifth annual Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13. All festival events are free and open to the public.

Talking with the Dead

Like James Merrill’s Sandover trilogy, Rick Hilles’s new collection is a conversation with spirits

By Pablo Tanguay | July 16, 2013

July 16, 2013 Like James Merrill’s Sandover trilogy, which critic Helen Vendler described as “a conversation with dead friends and spirits in another world,” Rick Hilles’s new book of poems invokes the dead, most dramatically by assuming their very personae. This poetic strategy may be the result of hubris or humility or both, but whatever it is, it works. The great strength of A Map of the Lost World, beyond its thematic gravity and masterful architecture, is its extraordinary writing. Rick Hilles will appear at the twenty-fifth annual Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13. All festival events are free and open to the public.

Buried Secrets, Shallow Graves

Matthew Guinn’s debut novel offers a sweeping tale of slavery, skeletons, and moral dilemmas

By Sarah Norris | July 11, 2013

July 11, 2013 Matthew Guinn based his novel, The Resurrectionist, in part on the true story of Grandison Harris, a slave ordered to dig up dead bodies for use in anatomy classes. By structuring his story within two timeframes, set more than a century apart, Guinn brings both periods to life, and the result is an engrossing morality tale. He will read from and sign copies of The Resurrectionist on July 17 at 6 p.m. at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis. He will be back in Tennessee again for the twenty-fifth annual Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

In J. Courtney Sullivan’s The Engagements, a diamond isn’t necessarily forever

By Susannah Felts | July 10, 2013

July 10, 2013 From its cover design to its title to its wedding-season pub date, J. Courtney Sullivan’s The Engagements seems shrewdly engineered to snag readers headed for sunny locales. And rightly so: one sinks into the book with the ease of the very best beach reads. But its silky surface belies the serious territory this novel mines. Through the prism of four couples’ stories, Sullivan takes on the institution of marriage and everything in our culture and economy that rides upon it—or props it up. The result is a pleasurable but ultimately ambivalent, even sobering look at conjugal partnership as we know it. Sullivan will discuss The Engagements at Parnassus Books in Nashville on July 15 at 6:30 p.m.

Siren Song

Fantasy author Alex Bledsoe delves into Appalachian myth and music

By Emily Choate | July 8, 2013

July 8, 2013 Wisp of a Thing is Alex Bledsoe’s second fantasy novel about the Tufa, a secretive people bent on protecting the ancient mysteries of their Smoky Mountain community. When an outsider comes in search of a powerful Tufa song, the myths and histories hidden in Cloud County awaken, putting every Tufa tradition to the test. Bledsoe will read from Wisp of a Thing at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on July 13, 2013, at 2 p.m. and at Parnassus Books in Nashville on July 14 at 2 p.m.

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