Operation Pied Piper, initiated by the British government in September 1939, relocated thousands of children in an effort to protect them from war bombing. In Patti Callahan Henry’s novel The Secret Book of Flora Lea, young sisters Hazel and Flora find themselves displaced with so many others, thrust into a terrifying adventure. Henry will appear at the East Tennessee History Center in Knoxville on April 2.
Bradley Sides’ sophomore short story collection, Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood, combines the mundane with the supernatural.
In her debut romance novel, Love and Hot Chicken, Mary Liza Hartong presents Southern love and queer romance at its finest. Hartong will discuss the book at Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 20.
Gerry Wilson delivers a vibrant debut novel, That Pinson Girl, on the impact of generational trauma, lies, and secrecy. Wilson will discuss the book at Novel in Memphis on February 20.
FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: Julia Watts’ latest novel, Lovesick Blossoms, nestles the reader in the 1953 university culture of Kentucky and the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals trying to juggle public and private personas. Watts will appear at the 2023 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 21-22.
Ray Trotter assembles a stylized, bite-sized, pure personality of a debut short story collection, And Dogs to Chase Them, exploring the quirks and nuances of rural Southern living.
