A story of women bound by blood and music
The Ballad of Laurel Springs, the new novel from East Tennessee native Janet Beard, follows nine generations of women in a fictional town at the base of the Smoky Mountains, weaving murder, tragedy, and heartbreak into a singular tale bound together by the power of music.
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Andrew Siegrist rides the winding river of the human spirit in We Imagined It Was Rain
The winner of the 2020 C. Michael Curtis Short Story Book Prize, We Imagined It Was Rain is an immersive debut collection of loosely connected short stories from Tennessee native Andrew Siegrist, who will discuss the book at a virtual session of the 2021 Southern Festival of Books on October 10.
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Bobbie Ann Mason gives her heroine a second life in Dear Ann
In her vibrant new novel, Dear Ann, Bobbie Ann Mason imagines the life that might have been for Ann Workman, a graduate student who pursues love and English literature against the turbulent backdrop of the 1960s. Bobbie Ann Mason will appear at the online 2021 Southern Festival of Books on October 9.
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Nazi war crimes and Cold War espionage fuel a YA historical thriller
In Bluebird, New York Times bestselling author Sharon Cameron gives her young readers a glimpse of the shocking treatment of innocent men, women, and children during World War II, contrasted with seemingly peaceful post-war New York City — but looks can be deceiving. Cameron will discuss Bluebird at an in-person session of the 2021 Southern Festival of Books held at Parnassus Books in Nashville on October 2.
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In The Prophets, debut novelist Robert Jones Jr. reimagines the slave narrative
The plantation at the center of Robert Jones Jr.’s The Prophets is called Empty, but this bold and poetic slave story is replete with passionate characters and disturbing events. Jones will discuss The Prophets at a 2021 Southern Festival of Books virtual event on September 30.
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Blues legend B.B. King gets the royal treatment from biographer Daniel de Visé
Daniel de Visé’s King of the Blues: The Rise and Reign of B.B. King chronicles a life, traces a sound, and tells a story worthy of its iconic subject. Daniel de Visé will discuss the book at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville on October 5.
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