Book Reviews

May 18, 2016 In Louise Erdrich’s mesmerizing new novel, LaRose, two neighboring households straddling the border of the Ojibwe reservation become permanently entangled in matters of justice and grief after the accidental shooting of a young boy. Erdrich will appear alongside novelist Jane Hamilton as part of the Nashville Public Library’s Salon@615 series on May 25, 2016, at 6:15 p.m.

May 17, 2016 Nitro Mountain, the debut novel from Nashville native Lee Clay Johnson, reveals a strikingly evoked world of depravity, degradation, and bad romance in a remote crevice of Appalachia. Johnson will read from the book at Brown’s Diner in Nashville on May 20, 2016, at 6:30 p.m.

May 12, 2016 Redemption Road proves once again that John Hart is a master of the literary thriller. His flawed and haunted characters must work in the shadows of modern-day North Carolina to find their way to salvation. Hart will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on May 19, 2016, at 6:30 pm.

May 11, 2016 Set among Houston’s glamorous oil-industry elites during the 1950s, Anton DiSclafani’s The After Party follows two young women—one conventional, one rebellious—who are locked in a complex lifelong friendship. DiSclafani will discuss The After Party at Parnassus Books in Nashville on May 17, at 6:30 p.m.

May 10, 2016 In Prayers the Devil Answers Sharyn McCrumb once again recreates the time, place, and people of her Appalachian homeland. McCrumb will discuss her new novel at free public events in Johnson City, Knoxville, and Nashville.

May 9, 2016 With Heat and Light, Jennifer Haigh joins the grand American tradition of the social-protest novel. Like Harriet Beecher Stowe, Upton Sinclair, and John Steinbeck before her, she wields a quixotic sword against corporate corruption and malfeasance—in this case, fracking. Haigh will read from Heat and Light at Parnassus Books in Nashville on May 12, 2016, at 6:30 p.m.