Tag Archives: Southern

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

Synopsis: When a reluctant farmer’s wife moves to a tin-roof shack in postwar rural Mississippi, her passion for her husband’s war hero brother becomes part of a web of tension that engulfs the town in hatred and violence. Review: Mudbound took me by surprise. Told from multiple points of view, the story manages to be inevitable without being predictable, with characters who all have very distinct voices. The casual, every day racism of even the most sympathetic characters is shocking to this 21st century Yankee…

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Purple Jesus by Ron Cooper

Synopsis: A rollicking southern Gothic feast. Review: With inventive prose and eccentric characters, Purple Jesus has a lot going for it. For me, I never really connected with the characters, though I did admire what Ron Cooper has accomplished. I would like to see this book, published by a small, independent publisher, find an audience, so please check it out if you like Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy, or John Kennedy Toole. You’ll find a lot to enjoy in this rich book.

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