In Karen Salyer McElmurray’s Wanting Radiance, a daughter searches for her own buried origins
…if I was into such things,” this visceral experience carries power that she cannot deny. Ruby’s voice has returned to guide her, complicating Miracelle’s solo life. Sometimes that guidance is…
Say Nothing weaves the unsolved case of a disappeared Belfast mother into a history of the Troubles
…in a place contorted by generations of discrimination and bloodshed, ordinary people can come to believe that violence is a moral imperative — an idea reinforced by ritual and pageantry….
Susan Choi sets her novel Trust Exercise at the intersection of fact and fiction
…social world has been almost completely upended, due in part to the machinations of their Theatre Arts teacher, Mr. Kingsley, the aptly named puppet-master of the CAPA universe. “Mr. Kingsley…
Shuly Xóchitl Cawood mines the nuances of daily life in A Small Thing to Want
In A Small Thing to Want, a collection of short stories by Johnson City writer Shuly Xóchitl Cawood, the most vital moments are often the most private. Cawood’s stories occupy…
Alia Volz pays tribute to her mother’s enterprising marijuana brownie business in Home Baked
…relief from devastating symptoms when conventional medicine offered few options. Stories like Meridy’s place the rapidly evolving legal and cultural status of all cannabis-related products into fascinating perspective. “The AIDS…
The characters of Katy Simpson Smith’s The Everlasting span the long, winding history of Rome
…as more than a colorful swirl of imagery. They provide a structural conceit that allows Smith to organize two millennia’s worth of material about Rome’s history and people. In “The…
