A young girl learns about love, desire, and betrayal in 1950s Mississippi
Minrose Gwin’s bewitching novel, Beautiful Dreamers, covers a lot of ground: lost innocence and found strength, the gifts life takes away and the gifts it gives in return, the lies that hold you back and the lies you run toward. But most of all, it’s about a mother and a daughter and the connection that never lets you go.
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Characters can’t escape the past in Jill McCorkle’s Old Crimes
Jill McCorkle’s new story collection resonates with sympathy for characters struggling to make peace with themselves and those they love. McCorkle will appear at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.
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Rachel Khong’s Real Americans explores identity and ambition
Real Americans, Rachel Khong’s second novel, explores the lives of two families of vastly different socioeconomic status. This vivid, multigenerational tale delves into the heart of what it means to be American and the paths of aspiration, success, and disappointment that come to define a life. Khong will appear at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.
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There Is Happiness offers bittersweet confirmation of Brad Watson’s storytelling genius
Four years ago, the literary world unexpectedly lost a beloved and widely acclaimed writer, Brad Watson. This year, W.W. Norton revives a legend with This Is Happiness, a posthumous collection including previously unpublished work that reinforces the strength of Watson’s gifts and the generosity of his spirit. Watson’s editor, Alane Salierno Mason, will discuss There Is Happiness at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.
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A young mother is haunted by loss in Kimberly King Parsons’ debut novel
Kimberly King Parsons’ gritty debut novel, We Were the Universe, immerses readers in the kaleidoscopic psyche of Kit, a woman in her mid-20s, as she navigates parenting her unruly three-year-old daughter while mourning the death of her sister. Parsons will discuss the novel at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.
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Michael Sims’ new anthology of short fiction presents antique whodunit gems
In his latest anthology of Victorian-era fiction, The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries, Michael Sims presents the evolution of the short-form murder mystery. Sims will appear at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.
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