If you want classic, tried-and-true recipes of authentic Southern dishes like chicken and dumplings, skillet cornbread and jam cake, look no further than Crystal Wilkinson’s new book “Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts” (Clarkson Potter, $30). As the subtitle states, it features recipes passed down by “five generations of Black country cooks.” But “Praisesong” is so much more than a cookbook. It is a food memoir … Continue reading Crystal Wilkinson conjures distant past for evocative food memoir

Boo Radley remains one of the most enduring characters in Southern literature. A reclusive man of few words ridiculed for his peculiarities in Harper Lee’s 1960 novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” he’s later revealed to be a timid, kind-hearted man with developmental disabilities. Tenderly portrayed in both the book and the 1962 film, the character resonates in part because he represents the archetype of the … Continue reading ‘Zenith Man’ a wild ride of love, death and justice in small-town Georgia

Many a writer has tried to capture in words the vast, majestic beauty of Georgia’s coastal marshlands, not the least of whom was Sidney Lanier. The celebrated 19th century poet from Macon was dying from tuberculosis in 1898 when he wrote his penultimate poem, “The Marshes of Glynn.” “Oh, what is abroad in the marsh and the terminal sea? / Somehow my soul seems suddenly … Continue reading ‘Saving the Georgia Coast’ a study in political activism

Transcendent. Mesmerizing. Dazzling. Incandescent. Audacious. These are some of the superlatives that media outlets including The Atlantic, Harper’s Bazaar and Esquire have used to describe Lauren Groff. All of those descriptors are accurate and none of them are sufficient to describe just how spectacular her new book, “The Vaster Wilds” (Riverhead Books, $28), truly is. Written in a classic, timeless style, the novel reads like … Continue reading Lauren Groff upends captive narrative in ‘The Vaster Wild’

Ann Patchett is a consummate storyteller whose fluid, naturalistic writing style makes reading her novels an effortless journey as she sweeps you up into her engrossing yarns filled with characters so precisely rendered they seem familiar. Her new novel, “Tom Lake” (Harper, $30), does not disappoint. A domestic drama about love in all its many permutations — past, present, romantic, familial — the characters’ lives … Continue reading Examined past illuminates present in Ann Patchett’s ‘Tom Lake’

I have a confession to make. When I was 7 years old, I pulled the fire alarm at my elementary school. It was an impulse act, born out of opportunity. Because I was the last person anyone would have expected to do such a thing, I knew I wouldn’t get caught. Joining my fellow students in the parking lot where we’d been trained to gather … Continue reading Poster art fuels panic in new Kevin Wilson book

SPEAKING WITH HEATHER Havrilesky about her new book, Foreverland: On the Divine Tedium of Marriage, offers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of an incisive writer’s mind. When asked a question, she launches into a response that promises to be simple and straightforward. Before long, though, it careens to one side and then the other, taking on qualifiers, asides, and addendums until it trails off … Continue reading Heather Havrilesky ponders the highs and lows of marriage in ‘Foreverland’

The women and girls who populate Floridian author Dantiel W. Moniz’s outstanding literary debut, “Milk Blood Heat,” are perched precariously on the razor thin edge of something big: adulthood, motherhood, infidelity, love, loss, death. In each instance, there’s a sense that the outcome could go either way, and therein lies the tension that propels the reader through this collection of 11 tightly wound short stories. … Continue reading ‘Milk Blood Heat’ an unflinching look at female psyche

Author Terry Kay often told the story of Pat Conroy coercing him into becoming a novelist. The yarn always ended with Kay saying, “For a boy who never wanted to write a book, it’s been a splendid adventure.” The author’s many admirers could say the same after reading one of his beloved books. Kay, 82, a masterful storyteller and author of the internationally acclaimed novel … Continue reading Terry Kay, Georgia’s prize-winning accidental author, dies at age 82

Crime fiction set in Appalachia has grown so prolific, it has spawned its own genre known as Appalachian noir, or its ruder cousin, hillbilly noir. Recent entries in the canon include Georgia author Brian Panowich’s “Hard Cash Valley” and “When These Mountains Burn” by David Joy from North Carolina. Some reviewers lump in New York Times bestselling author Ron Rash, perhaps even suggesting he’s a … Continue reading Ron Rash revisits ‘Serena’ in new novella

Natasha Trethewey was a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Georgia when a police officer appeared at her dorm room and gave her a phone number to call. The voice at the other end of the line informed her that her mother was dead. Gwendolyn Ann Turnbough had been shot twice at close range by Trethe­wey’s former stepfather, a man she called Big Joe. It … Continue reading Poet Natasha Trethewey on her new memoir and her bittersweet relationship with Atlanta

David James Poissant’s literary debut signaled the arrival of a notable new voice in 2014. His short story collection, “The Heaven of Animals,” was named one of the best books of the year by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, one of the best short story collections of the year by Amazon and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times book prize. Six years later, his debut novel, … Continue reading Secrets bob to the surface in dazzling debut novel