A review of Margaret Verble’s novel, “Stealing,” now out in paperback.
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All articles filed in Fiction
Andrew Boryga Asks How Much Fabrication is Allowable in Fiction in “Victim”
Victimhood is a complex subject, one with the capacity to instill empathy and create connection to the misfortunes of others, though sometimes accompanied by the stigma of helplessness. As Andrew Boryga’s novel Victim shows, it is a liability that can damage a life but can also be reclaimed as an asset to be unjustly exploited. Victim is the…
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Cosmetic Surgery and Quiet Violence On Board in Lindsey Harding’s “Pilgrims 2.0”
“Pilgrims 2.0” is a stunning portrayal of desperation that holds buoyancy in its empathy and finds brutality in asking where the line of violence is drawn or if, perhaps, the line has been drawn too late.
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Miracles and Horrors Abound in “The Last Philosopher in Texas”
Equal parts surreal and sharp, devastating and delightful, Daniel Chacón’s “The Last Philosopher in Texas” has something for everyone.
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Julia Ridley Smith’s “Sex Romp Gone Wrong” Doesn’t Just Tease; It Delivers
A favorite writing teacher, one particularly enamored with short stories, once told me never to approach a collection with the expectation that all, or even most, will be good. He’d said one, two tops, is all you can reasonably ask for. Not every story in “Sex Romp Gone Wrong” carries emotional heft or grace, but a surprising number of them come close and are destined to be read again and again.
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Compelling, Conspicuous Womanhood in the Gorgeous Debut “The Turtle House”
From the first lines of The Turtle House, debut historical fiction author Amanda Churchill signals how she plans to spin her masterful family saga from prewar Japan to late 20th Century Texas ranch country. Curtain, Texas March 1, 1999 Paper hates water. It hates wind. And fire. Paper falls apart. There is no home safe…
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Puzzles, Trust, and Mystery: An Interview with Ellen Birkett Morris and Abby Lipscomb
An author-on-author interview with Ellen Birkett Morris and Abby Lipscomb.
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Kiley Reid’s “Come and Get It” is like a Burn Book: Exciting, Juicy, and Full of Secrets
A review of Kiley Reid’s new novel, “Come and Get It.”
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A Roster of Talented Women Take on Unsavory Stories in “Peach Pit”
Do you like to read short stories? Do you like to read stories about morally grey and semi-unsavory women? Do you like to read stories about feminism? Or perhaps read stories in support of anti-racist and anti-queerphobic views? If so, then Peach Pit: Sixteen Stories of Unsavory Women, beautifully edited by Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley, is just the ticket…
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Freedom, Courage, and the Power of Names in “The American Daughters”
A review of Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s new historical fiction novel, “The American Daughters,” a vibrant and empowering story set in New Orleans from 1851 to the Civil War.
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Southern Review of Books 