From a brutal upbringing and tumultuous life growing up in the 1960s to modern day, Cora Jean's simple heart and strength of character shine through in a story of love, loss and ultimate grace that speaks volumes to us all.

    Finally, the collection turns to remembrances of "The Great Conroy," as he is lovingly titled by friends, and concludes with a eulogy. The inarguable power of Conroy's work resonates throughout A Lowcountry Heart, and his influence promises to endure.This moving tribute is sure to be a cherished keepsake for any true Conroy fan and remain a lasting monument to one of the best-loved masters of contemporary American letters.

    After a lifetime spent trying to put the place behind her, the kinfolk have come calling, and they want her home.Against her better judgement, Mo returns, but finds the answer she’s searching for—the truth about a child named Lucy—is farther from her grasp than ever. Because in deep east Texas, at the mercy of your kin, truth is relative—as enigmatic as a carnival shell game. And the game is rigged.* This edition contains editorial revisions.

    But then her work as an expert of fine china—especially of Limoges—requires her to return to the one place she swore she’d never revisit...It’s been ten years since Georgia left her family home on the coast of Florida, and nothing much has changed, except that there are fewer oysters and more tourists. She finds solace seeing her grandfather still toiling away in the apiary where she spent much of her childhood, but encountering her estranged mother and sister leaves her rattled.Seeing them after all this time makes Georgia realize that something has been missing—and unless she finds a way to heal these rifts, she will forever be living vicariously through other people’s remnants. To embrace her own life—mistakes and all—she will have to find the courage to confront the ghosts of her past and the secrets she was forced to keep...

    Or do they? Here's to finding love at any age... A crossover story between the Comfort Crossing series and the Lighthouse Point series.

    “Robust and vivid . . . full of feeling” (Newsday).  The Lords of Discipline: Will McLean begins his studies at the Carolina Military Institute during the Vietnam War era and must mentor the school’s first black student—while facing down the menace of a racist secret society. “A work of enormous power, passion, humor, and wisdom” (Jonathan Yardley, TheWashington Star).  The Prince of Tides: When Tom Wingo learns that his twin sister has attempted suicide—again—he leaves the Low Country to visit her in New York and confront the family secret that haunts them both. “Conroy has achieved a penetrating vision of the Southern psyche” (Publishers Weekly).   Deeply influenced by the author’s own experiences, with his Southern family and education at the Citadel in Charleston, these stunning novels represent the very best of Pat Conroy’s impressive literary career. The South Carolina–set sagas were made into blockbuster films—two of them earning multiple Academy Award nominations—and each is a rich, emotional journey into the inner lives of fascinating characters.

    Now, plagued by guilt, she has become a fixture at the cemetery where William is buried, visiting his grave daily, waiting for answers she knows will never come.Then one day, she sees an old woman whose grief mirrors her own. Fascinated, she watches the woman leave a letter on a nearby grave. Dovie ignores her conscience and reads the letter—a mother’s plea for forgiveness to her dead daughter—and immediately needs to know the rest of the story.As she delves deeper, a collection of letters from the cemetery’s lost and found begins to unravel a decades-old mystery involving one of Charleston’s wealthiest families. But even as Dovie seeks to answer questions about another woman’s past—questions filled with deception, betrayal, and heartbreaking loss—she starts to discover the keys to love, forgiveness, and finally embracing the future…

    Dispossessed farmer Pearl Jewett ekes out a hardscrabble existence with his three young sons: Cane (the eldest; handsome; intelligent); Cob (short; heavy set; a bit slow); and Chimney (the youngest; thin; ill-tempered). Several hundred miles away in southern Ohio, a farmer by the name of Ellsworth Fiddler lives with his son, Eddie, and his wife, Eula. After Ellsworth is swindled out of his family’s entire fortune, his life is put on a surprising, unforgettable, and violent trajectory that will directly lead him to cross paths with the Jewetts. No good can come of it. Or can it?In the gothic tradition of Flannery O’Connor and Cormac McCarthy with a healthy dose of cinematic violence reminiscent of Sam Peckinpah, Quentin Tarantino and the Coen Brothers, the Jewetts and the Fiddlers will find their lives colliding in increasingly dark and horrific ways, placing Donald Ray Pollock firmly in the company of the genre’s literary masters.

    His humor and short fiction appear in various publications throughout the Southeast.

    Pamela Cable leaves readers aching for more.” ~ Julie Cantrell, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the Christy Award winning novel, Into the Free On a November day in 1951 Neeley McPherson turned five ... and accidentally killed her parents. Thrown into the care of her scheming and alcoholic grandfather, she survives by her quick wit, and the watchful eye of an elderly black man, Gideon. In 1959, as equal rights heats up the South, authorities accuse Gideon of stealing a watch and using a Whites Only restroom. Neeley, now thirteen, determines to break him out of jail. When the infamous Catfish Cole, Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon of the Carolinas, discovers their courageous escape, he pursues Neeley and Gideon into the frozen Blue Ridge Mountains to a wolf sanctuary. But will Neeley's actions lead to tragedy again? Or will she finally find the love of family she lost as a child? Set during a volatile time in America, The Sanctum bestows sanctuary and invokes the power of second chances. "I would compare The Sanctum to Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Set in the deep south during the Civil Rights Era, this book tackles such issues as racial discrimination and abuse." ~ Kimberly A. Liston-McCabe

    When their van breaks down outside of Morganton, North Carolina, the group decides to hike up nearby Brown Mountain while they wait for the repairs to be finished. Lizzie’s interest in nature prompts her to go on a walk by herself, hoping to get a glimpse of the legendary Brown Mountain Lights. When she unexpectedly encounters one, she naively reaches out to touch it and is thrown back in time to a place and lifestyle she comes to hate—the Antebellum South. Lizzie is taken in by three sisters who are healers. With them, she is able to put her knowledge as a medical student to good use. She finds a trusted friend in Abbie, the youngest sister, and through a budding romance with the son of a plantation owner is drawn into the dangerous world of the Underground Railroad. With a bloody and violent war looming on the horizon, at a time when women are looked upon as less than equal, Lizzie struggles to accept the differences that surround her every day in this new and challenging world. Wanting nothing more than to return home, she and Abbie continually search for the light Lizzie travelled through, hoping it will take her back to her time. But if she finds it, will she decide to stay or go?

    A lyrical exploration of love and loss, The Birds of Opulence centers on several generations of women in a bucolic southern black township as they live with and sometimes surrender to madness. The Goode-Brown family, led by matriarch and pillar of the community Minnie Mae, is plagued by old secrets and embarrassment over mental illness and illegitimacy. Meanwhile, single mother Francine Clark is haunted by her dead, lightning-struck husband and forced to fight against both the moral judgment of the community and her own rebellious daughter, Mona. The residents of Opulence struggle with vexing relationships to the land, to one another, and to their own sexuality. As the members of the youngest generation watch their mothers and grandmothers pass away, they live with the fear of going mad themselves and must fight to survive. Crystal Wilkinson offers up Opulence and its people in lush, poetic detail. It is a world of magic, conjuring, signs, and spells, but also of harsh realities that only love-and love that's handed down-can conquer. At once tragic and hopeful, this captivating novel is a story about another time, rendered for our own. The first title featured in Wiley Cash's Book Club!

    RubyLyn Bishop is luckier than some. Her God-fearing uncle, Gunnar, has a short fuse and high expectations, but he’s given her a good home ever since she was orphaned at the age of five. Yet now, a month shy of her sixteenth birthday, RubyLyn itches for more.Maybe it’s something to do with the paper fortunetellers RubyLyn has been making for townsfolk, each covered with beautifully wrought, prophetic drawings. Or perhaps it’s because of Rainey Ford, an African-American neighbor who works alongside her in the tobacco field, and with whom she has a kinship, despite her uncle’s worrisome shadow and the town’s disapproval. RubyLyn’s predictions are just wishful thinking, not magic at all, but through them she’s imagining life as it could be, away from the prejudice and hardship that ripple through Nameless.Atmospheric, poignant, and searingly honest, a Coalminer's Daughter meets Winter's Bone, GodPretty in the Tobacco Field follows RubyLyn through the course of one blazing summer, as heartbreaking revelations and life-changing decisions propel her toward a future her fortunetellers never predicted.

    Her career is in tatters, her relationship is doomed, and after an ill-fated pregnancy, she does the one thing she’s always done best. She runs. Her car careens off the road leaving her battered, bruised and beaten. It is then that she meets the woman who will change her life. Alexis Parker is a woman in control. Her business is thriving, her friends are by her side and the daughter she refused to abandon is the happiest little girl in the world. When the bloodied and broken Bridgette Connor collapses at her door, Alexis does the one thing she’s always done best. She helps. Last Things is a story of two women, the story of how they are different and how they are the same. It is a story of love, a story of loss, and above all, a story of friendship.

    She writes, paints watercolor landscapes and reads Jane Austen over and over. Kylie’s been married since she was 19, has twin boys and loves hunting for bargains and selling her crafts on-line. Kate and Kylie have been best friends since third grade at River Valley Elementary School. When Kate inherits her grandmother’s old house and decides to move back to peaceful River Valley, she finds there’s anything but peace in the Valley. First, she arrives to find that all her late grandmother’s old furniture has been stolen. Kylie comes to the rescue, and just a few days later the two of them are right in the middle of a murder investigation. Through it all, with Kylie’s help, Kate’s turning the old house into her own home with yard sale and thrift shop bargains and getting to know two very different men. From the author of the Hunter Jones mystery series, A Body in the Bargain is about people you might know and one or two you might just want to avoid.

    He loves a lot of cool stuff, like sweet bluegrass jams and great ice cream, but most of all, he loves YOU. Channeled through the spirit of comedian and author Sara Benincasa. A parody, obviously. 50% of author profits will be donated to Great Expectations in Virginia, which mentors foster youth to prepare them for college and the workforce.

    But with an impending hurricane, they are determined to convince Aunt Sandy to abandon her seaside store and return home. Instead, they discover that sisterhood can change hearts, lives, and futures . . . often in unpredictable ways.The Tidewater SistersTandi Reese and her sister, Gina, have complicated ties. Faced with legal papers for a fraud she didn’t commit, Tandi heads to the North Carolina Tidewater for a reckoning. But to unravel lies from truth, she must first confront strained sibling bonds and uncover a dark family secret.The Sandcastle SisterNew York editor Jen Gibbs has not only acquired Evan Hall’s blockbuster book deal—she’s also accepted his engagement proposal. Now she’s scared to death. In Jen’s family history, marriage represents the death of every dream a woman holds. Will her mother’s long-held secret change Jen’s belief’s about life and love?

    An angel beneath his wheels.Beneath his playboy façade, young NASCAR driver Luke Brandt yearns for a family. Rachel Tate, an inventive, purity-ring-wearing mechanical engineer, is determined to prove herself in a male dominated industry. When Luke outbids Rachel on the only two muscle cars she could use to test her new vapor-fueled engine, she wants nothing to do with him. But Luke’s gentle ways and down home country charm just might win her over—if his painful past doesn’t push her away. When she begins to touch his heart, he’s haunted by bitter memories of the only woman he’s ever loved—the mother who abandoned him as a little boy. With an intense trust that God will lead her on life’s journey, Rachel perseveres, her innocence and grace breach his defenses and his walls begin to crumble. As they join forces to bring her remarkable invention to market, their love, their very lives, are threatened by the iron-tight grip that “Big Oil” holds over the whole auto industry and Luke realizes his final happiness must come through faith, in the One who has always loved him… and always will.

    Inside, the owner claims to have been waiting for years and offers an old photograph of a woman with Laura’s face. Soon afterwards, when a lunar eclipse inexplicably thrusts Laura back in time to Civil War Georgia, she finds herself fighting not just for her heart, but for her very survival…Whispers of GoodbyeAlone and with nothing left to fear, Catherine deClaire Reed answers her sister’s desperate plea and travels to the cold comfort of her home in Reconstruction Louisiana. But Elizabeth is nowhere to be found. No one—including her husband—has seen her for days. Now, Catherine must search for her sister in a place where secrets wait behind every closed door...

    He had suffered the loss of his father and his best friend during his time away. The demons he faced in the desert turned his once hopeful future into dreams of a traumatic past, taking away every part of his soul. The Marine could save the world but only one person could save him ... his Grace.

    When apparitions start leaking out of the nightmares into her waking life—Well, that's a problem.But Abby's dealt with hallucinations before, and she's nothing if not resilient. Following clues from the nightmares, she convinces her mother to let her visit Harmony Springs, the small town in Florida where Abby was born, and where her grandmother still lives. There, Abby finds unexpected help from new friends: a compulsive teenage blogger named Molly Quick, and Molly's older brother Ray-Ray (a guy Abby really starts to like). The not-so-good news? Abby's apparitions might be real after all. And one of them wants to kill her.

    Trying to be the best mother of a teen mom, and daughter to her mom with Alzheimer’s, that she can be. But Billie’s fragile life is thrown into turmoil when the target of her biggest regret, Crazy Sadie, shows up claiming to have witnessed the only murder in the town's history. Sadie Byrd accuses the nearly dead and sainted Judge Norris of savagely beating his own little girl to death forty years ago. Could Miss Sadie be right? As Billie uncovers the terrible truth of stolen babies and bone-chilling corruption, she will have to risk everything when powerful people are prepared to do anything to keep buried.

    Eccentric sisters and a black rose. One granny woman and a red button. Church suppers and bingo nights. A poet out of his element. Dreams of Mexico. The shadowy world of thoroughbred horse racing. If the Creek Don't Rise is a collection of hard-used characters, tangled relationships, family angst, and fortitude. Step into the Deep South and experience the lives and hardships, hopes and dreams, of folk who have nothing except grit—and sometimes love—as their currency. Eighteen tales and six postcard vignettes, highlighted with artwork by Susan Raymond, make this collection a skillful and moving exploration of the commonplace, the hidden, and the unforgettable.

    We all had.When all else fails, turn to the divine taste of hummingbird cake.In the South you always say “yes, ma’am” and “no, ma’am.” You know everybody’s business. Football is a lifestyle not a pastime. Food—especially dessert— is almost a religious experience. And you protect your friends as fiercely as you protect your family— even if the threat is something you cannot see.In this spot-on Southern novel brimming with wit and authenticity, you’ll laugh alongside lifelong friends, navigate the sometimes rocky path of marriage, and roll through the outrageous curveballs that life sometimes throws . . . from devastating pain to absolute joy. And if you’re lucky, you just may discover the secret to hummingbird cake along the way.

    . .sure to be a much-appreciated gift or centerpiece on your very own kitchen countertop.

    It began as soon as they dropped their anchor in Plymouth Bay. Since that time, they have meddled, cheated, and lied their way into every nook and cranny of American life. The Southern people warned others about the radical utopians of New England, and even went to war to get away from them, but to no avail. Now all Americans, not just Southerners, are subject to the whims of “those people” and their never ending mission to recreate, not only America, but the entire world in their bizarre, sanctimonious image. Dr. Clyde Wilson, in this first installment of The Wilson Files, takes the Yankee problem head-on. After decades of historical research and personal observation, he exposes and explains these pesky purveyors of mischief and mayhem! If you want to understand America, American History, and the upside-down dystopian nightmare in which we all live, you have to understand the problem. We do not have an economic problem, a race problem, a class problem, a gender problem, a toilet access problem, a drug problem, a gun problem, or any other ideological or social problem at the root of America’s dysfunctional anti-culture – we have a Yankee problem! This title is enrolled in Kindle MatchBook. FREE if print edition is purchased on Amazon.

    Makes it hurt true. Hell of a crash.”—Jedidiah Ayres, author of Peckerwood“I’ve written that a way to judge the health of a genre is to gauge the number of emerging young, good writers. Kristopher Triana is one of the newest bumper crop of good ones. I read a couple of his short stories after meeting him at the recent StokerCon. His prose is excellent, his plots compelling. The Ruin Season has these same qualities. Kris has the Write Stuff. Check out a rising star.”—Gene O’Neill, author of The Cal Wild Chronicles and Entangled Soul with Chris Marrs“The Ruin Season is like the literary equivalent of Springsteen’s classic Nebraska. It’s a book with a stripped back feel, brooding with raw emotion and atmosphere where Triana allows his characters to bare their souls and bleed onto every page.”—Adrian Shotbolt, BeavistheBookheadJake Leonard has more than his share of trouble.He’s close to forty now and still suffers from bipolar disorder and the painful memories of the psychotic episodes that derailed his life and sent him behind bars as a youth. He lives in the rural south where he spends his days breaking horses and his nights training dogs in solitude. His nineteen-year-old girlfriend, Nikki, is the daughter of the sheriff, and she’s just getting worse with drugs, alcohol and satanic metal, eventually leading into heroin and low-budget porn. When Jake reconnects with his ex-wife, things get even more complicated, and the limits of love and sanity get pushed to the breaking point.The Ruin Season is a haunting, violent tale of a mentally ill man struggling in a violent and heartless world. It is the story of unrequited love, mad rage, and bloody revenge. It moves forward in the dark style of gritty southern gothic novels, in the tradition of Larry Brown, Harry Crews, Daniel Woodrell, Cormac McCarthy and Flannery O’Conner. It shows both the tender and horrible sides of insanity as well as the seedy underbelly of the American, backwoods suburbs.

    She humorously recalls her own early bewildered attempts to understand Lone Star gals, from the big-haired, perfectly made-up ladies at the Hyde Park Beauty Salon to her intellectual, quinoa-eating roommates at Seneca House Co-op for Graduate Women. After decades of observing Texas women, Bird knows the species as few others do. A Love Letter to Texas Women is a must-have guide for newcomers to the state and the ideal gift to tell any Yellow Rose how special she is."

    Between their wild run-ins and her new craving for caramels, Aiden may have finally met her match. Recipe for a Witty Romantic Tale Take one stubborn-minded heroine. Add a serving of spice with one flirty hero, who has no trouble holding his own against her feistiness. Mix in hilarious sabotages that slightly miss the mark and an amusing dash of mischief. Don’t forget to resolve the angst with an anticipated kiss. Recipe Tip: Be sure to balance the portions of tension and chemistry in order to whip up the sweetest, love-inspiring result. Recipe Included

    When she discovers they've had a total of 25 children she is astonished and soon convinces, Bert, a charming newspaperman, to do a story on them. It isn't long before all of their lives become forever intertwined. Through good times and bad they all rely on unwavering faith in God and the goodness of others to help weather every storm that comes their way. Even a Great Depression and a World War can't shake their grit and determination.

    And only in Louisiana could a small-town lawmaker flip that script with the help of private investigators, a rogue sheriff, a purple party bus, a gaggle of trial lawyers, and an ad blitz questioning the front runner’s choice of “prostitutes over patriots.” Long Shot is the story of Louisiana’s 2015 race for governor — but the story of John Bel Edwards’ improbable victory over David Vitter holds lessons for candidates and voters in all 50 states. It’s an inconceivable and sometimes hysterical odyssey that unfolds against the unique backdrop of Louisiana’s back roads, bayous, barrooms, and ballrooms. Tyler Bridges and Jeremy Alford, two veteran political reporters in Louisiana, take readers deep into the inner workings of the Edwards and Vitter campaigns. To document this unforgettable ride, they interviewed more than 100 of the people who cut the deals, launched the attacks, and even played both sides. Clancy DuBos, one of the state’s foremost political analysts, brought his tremendous knowledge to bear as he edited the book. Long Shot is a can’t-put-it-down romp about the unforgiving terrain of Bayou State politics and the people who are trying to tame it. With never-before-published details on the 2015 race as well as Louisiana’s storied past, this is a must-have addition to any serious political bookshelf. By Tyler Bridges and Jeremy Alford, with a foreword by James Carville & Mary Matalin Published by The Lisburn Press. Ebook created by W2G Publishing / Write2Grow LLC Political Non-fiction

    Set against rural backdrops whose emptiness and isolation hint at constrictive forces rather than wide open spaces, Ezell’s stories capture their characters not only at their most vulnerable and desperate, but also at essential moments of self-discovery, of purposeful recognition of the extenuating circumstances that have shaped their respective fates. Throughout A Record of Our Debts, Ezell weaves together diverse, distinctive tales with remarkably fluid yet muscular prose that belies the desolate imagery contained within. These are striking, memorable odes to overcoming, though not always in ways that leave the characters whole. These are people who somehow manage to find themselves in the aftermath of loss, who uncover their own modest strengths while surrounded by so much weakness. This is a long, winding road of adolescents forced into prostitution by their own fathers, healers still haunted by the men they could not save, and widows who convert abandoned churches into makeshift diners in the hopes of luring back their husbands’ spirits. In short, this is a powerful exploration of the human spirit at both its best and its worst. Ezell’s figures extend well off the page, lingering in one’s memory long after the final line. For that, readers owe Ezell a debt of gratitude.

    Ten-year-old Lizzie proudly watches her brothers; uncles and close neighbors ride off to war in their butternut uniforms not realizing that she will soon be responsible for her five younger siblings. Based on family stories and traditions and backed by years of research, this historical novel immerses you in the war torn hills of Middle Tennessee, the blood bath that was Chickamauga and the hell hole of Rock Island Prison. Follow the Civil War lives of the eleven Ownby children during The Civil War and watch for subsequent books in the series.

    A widow with three children when they meet, Marguerite marries again and makes a home with her sea captain husband in Brittany, France--until the French Revolution interrupts their plans, forcing the family to flee to the Georgia coast and to a newly independent United States. Caught up in political and economic upheavals, as well as family turmoil, Marguerite experiences the ever-expanding nature of love and learns the importance of forgiveness, the inevitability of grief, and the peace that comes with a sense of place and belonging.

    It recounts the young author’s early memories of being born to a schizophrenic mother, then given up for adoption, only to be raised in a home with an alcoholic and abusive step-father. In this sharply-remembered portrait of the people and places that shaped him, Armand paints his seemingly negative experiences with a sympathetic and understanding brush. As the reader follows Armand through his childhood and later into adult life—when he is reunited with his mother after she makes a failed suicide attempt—a surprisingly new world of hope and possibility is rendered, despite the overwhelming challenges of this reunion. [Armand's] writing is reminiscent of Hemingway: straightforward descriptions of manly action punctuated by laconic dialogue."--New York Journal of Books "Armand writes in a comfortingly familiar literary voice that blends Ernest Hemingway’s laconic but rhythmically complicated explorations of the mysteries of masculinity with William Faulkner’s more fabulist, Southern Gothic twang. It’s a heady, seductively intoxicating combination."--Richmond Times-Dispatch

    Steadying the man, she turned to us and asked, "Can Everybody Swim?" News coverage surrounding Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath captured America's rapt attention and swelled our hearts. Stories of lawlessness and violence still abound from the flooded City. Who can forget the Louisiana Superdome? Can Everybody Swim? takes you beyond the camera's lens on a journey through the maelstrom. A shortage of cash combined with a fierce loyalty to protect the Gentilly neighborhood family home purchased by his Ecuadorian immigrant grandparents led the then twenty-five-year-old author and his family to remain in their City to weather the storm, including enduring six days in the infamous Superdome. Follow this family of four and a half as they survive the worst natural disaster of the 21st century.

    At the intersection of food and story, The Carolina Table: North Carolina Writers on Food will offer a collection of essays about the best meal, food and memory, the best family tradition, a cherished food ritual, a dreaded food ritual, a favorite recipe, the worst recipe, the worst meal, the funniest meal.

    Buy now and fill your summer reading with the hottest heroes and romances!Books Included:Hometown Hero by Dani CollinsSweet Home Carolina by Kim BoykinThe Perfect Score by Beth AlbrightGoing All the Way by Megan RyderWrecked by Sinclair Jayne

    . ."Locklyn Gaines isn’t her mother, but the residents of her small southeastern Kentucky town don’t care. Her mother’s secrets are Lock’s shame, and every time her drunk stepfather uses her as a punching bag, Lock wonders how much her dying mother knows about what goes on in the crumbling old house her mother’s family has lived in for generations. Isaiah Parker hardly remembers life before the first day of kindergarten, before he became obsessed with the serious, dark-haired girl in sunglasses who lives just beyond the field behind his house and rides the school bus with him every day. Protecting Lock had been a fantasy for the child he was, but Isaiah and Lock are nearly finished with high school, and Isaiah knows that now is the time for him to save her. Her stepfather has other plans, however, and one night may be all they have to do whatever it takes to escape and start over again, together.

    Things are going well at the Time Out Spa, but the night young proprietor Toby Bailey discovers his former lover naked and dead on a massage table, more things are spoiled than just his white leather shoes. Detective Melba Reightman and partner, Sam Jackson are called in to investigate and soon become embroiled in the most perplexing homicide case seen in years.After a hunting knife engraved with Toby's name is found in a load of wet, bloody laundry, he's arrested for the murder of Geraldo Guzman. He enlists the help of Madame Zhou Li, practicing attorney and owner of Green Dragon Chinese Herbs and Teas. The peculiar octogenarian seems an unlikely choice to defend him, but has a few tricks up her sleeve. Toby joins forces with Reightman and Jackson, and a shocking string of clues leads them closer to the killer. The bad news? Successfully solving the crime might unleash a firestorm on this southern city and come at a price none of them are prepared to pay.

    A chance to discover if after seven years, free-spirited Evie Rivers still lay beneath the surface.For eight weeks, it would be just me, my laptop, and the wintry Hamptons landscape. No distractions, no interruptions. At least, that was the plan. Until he came along.Adam Walker. He was a smart, sexy Englishman hell bent on helping me find what I had lost: myself. He laughed easily and found the good in every situation, but I couldn't help wondering what sadness lay behind the smile that slipped when he let his guard down.Suddenly, though eight weeks doesn't feel like long enough, maybe eight weeks can be all it takes to change your life forever.

    A difficult and beautiful book about a father's death from cancer, Ark is also a book about family, about old wounds and new rituals, about the extraordinary importance of ordinary things at the end of life, about the gifts of healing to be found in the care of the dying. At once a memoir in verse about hospice care and a son's book-length lament for his father, Ark is a book about the things that can be fixed, and those that can't. Ed Madden is the Poet Laureate of Columbia, South Carolina. This book features cover art from Arkansas-born artist Carroll Cloar.

    Based on true events, That Bright Land is the story of a violent and fragile nation in the wake of the Civil War and a man who must exorcise his own savage demons while tracking down another.

    But the times aren't so friendly to a young woman determined to buck society’s expectations and do more than marry, have children, and keep house. If society has its way, she will never leave Hope, Georgia, nor the boy who hopes to be more than just her friend. Then, tragedy strikes, and with it comes an opportunity Addie can't refuse. Thrust into in the rapidly-growing city of Atlanta, she's soon immersed in a world of powerful people intent upon their own plans and schemes, including Lester Schwinn, a conniving man hell-bent on making his mysterious cure-all tonic a household name at any cost.Aspirations of the Heart is the passionate tale of Addie’s self-discovery, but also the city of Atlanta and the growing pains the 20th century brings. Filled with vivid and memorable characters, and replete with historically and socially accurate details, it is a panoramic novel ideal for lovers of Southern fiction and for anyone who enjoys a well-spun, exciting, and colorful tale.

    Every entry includes an in-depth overview of the history of the battle and its importance to the war, the must-see places at each site, as well as lodging and other travel information. Outlining ten suggested itineraries for short road trips that cover every major battle of the war, The Complete Civil War Road Trip Guide enables historical travelers of any level to experience the Civil War as no other book has done.

    Muddy believes she is in her last days and longs to reunite in heaven with her deceased husband, Claude, But when Muddy's grandson shoots out a neighbor's front window, an old friendship is renewed, and troubling mysteries irresistibly revived. Full of humorous moments, Drifting Too Far from the Shore is a wonderful story of small town American South and of making the most of life.

    life becomes too much for her to bear, Willow St. Claire takes refuge in the North Georgia Mountains. She buys a bookstore, hoping to spend her days talking to customers about the latest releases, and her evenings in the quiet oasis of her mountain retreat. Alone in her cabin, two miles away from the nearest neighbor, Willow must learn to cope with the terror of her past, heal from the loss of her mother, and maintain a relationship with a teenaged daughter who refuses to leave D.C. where she lives with her father. But a knock at Willow’s kitchen door late one night, sets off a series of events that will shatter her newly found peace and tranquility, and threaten to trigger another breakdown. Willow has held tightly to her own version of the truth for over three decades, because for her, the real truth is far too disturbing.

    Her father disappeared one night from the backwoods of Porter’s Hollow, a shadowy depression in the mountains of North Carolina not far from the little town of Grassy Creek. The only witness, a hostile, virulent uncle, claimed he was attacked by something supernatural. Laura was born under the long, dark shadow of the events that led up to that night. And now, just when she finds herself widowed and empty-nested, she gets a phone call drawing her back to the place she was whisked away from in a rush of fear and confusion years ago. But she is determined to risk whatever it takes to get to the bottom of a well-kept family secret. Because the skeletons in this closet are real, and someone, or something, doesn’t want them revealed.

    Wilson's most sagacious writings on the topic of nullification and the unenumerated rights reserved to the several sovereign States that comprise the confederation known as the United States of America. For half a century historian Clyde Wilson has been writing about what he calls “our lost and stolen heritage of states’ rights.” As Dr. Donald Livingston, founder of the Abbeville Institute, has remarked of current devolutionary strategies, “Clyde Wilson had been plowing the ground long before any of us came to plant.” Excerpts from Nullification: Reclaiming the Consent of the Governed: “The cause of states’ rights is the cause of liberty; they rise or fall together. . . . We know the problems. Where should we look for solutions? . . . . Thomas Jefferson gives us the answer: our most ancient and best tradition, states’ rights: ‘the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies’ . . . . Some of the Founders hoped that the division of legislative, executive, and judicial power in the general government would help. . . . these checks and balances do not work. They ceased to work a long time ago. There is no serious conflict of power among the federal branches. The acts of all of them are directed toward checking the people of the States. . . . States’ rights are historically sound, constitutionally sound, ethically sound, and sound from the point of view of democracy. Where they fall short is simply in the realm of political will and agenda. . . . if we are to speak of curbing the central power, the States are what we have got. They exist. They are historical, political, cultural realities, the indestructible bottom line of the American system. It would be a shame if, in this world-historical time of devolution, Americans did not look back to an ancient and honourable tradition that lies readily at hand.”

    Here, presented for the first time ever in a single, magnificently illustrated volume, Edwin C. Bridges conveys the magisterial sweep of Alabama’s rich, difficult, and remarkable history with verve, eloquence, and an unblinking eye.   From Alabama’s earliest fossil records to its settlement by Native Americans and later by European settlers and African slaves, from its territorial birth pangs and statehood through the upheavals of the Civil War and the civil rights movement, Bridges makes evident in clear, direct storytelling the unique social, political, economic, and cultural forces that have indelibly shaped this historically rich and unique American region.   Illustrated lavishly with maps, archival photographs, and archaeological artifacts, as well as art works, portraiture, and specimens of Alabama craftsmanship—many never before published—Alabama: The Making of an American State makes evident as rarely seen before Alabama’s most significant struggles, conflicts, achievements, and developments.   Drawn from decades of research and the deep archival holdings of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, this volume will be the definitive resource for decades to come for anyone seeking a broad understanding of Alabama’s evolving legacy.

    Nazera Sadiq Wright uses heavy archival research on a wide range of texts about African American girls to explore this understudied phenomenon. As Wright shows, the figure of the black girl in African American literature provided a powerful avenue for exploring issues like domesticity, femininity, and proper conduct. The characters' actions, however fictional, became a rubric for African American citizenship and racial progress. At the same time, their seeming dependence and insignificance allegorized the unjust treatment of African Americans. Wright reveals fascinating girls who, possessed of a premature knowing and wisdom beyond their years, projected a courage and resiliency that made them exemplary representations of the project of racial advance and citizenship.

    Free to satisfy only herself, she mesmerizes those around her, exerting an unearthly fascination that lives beyond her still.

    Since this was Spartanburg, South Carolina, and not Missoula, Montana, Lane set out to discover all he could about his new and unexpected neighbors.Coyote Settles the South is the story of his journey through the Southeast, as he visits coyote territories: swamps, nature preserves, old farm fields, suburbs, a tannery, and even city streets. On his travels he meets, interrogates, and observes those who interact with the animals--trappers, wildlife researchers, hunters, rattled pet owners, and even one devoted coyote hugger. Along the way, he encounters sensible, yet sometimes perplexing, insight concerning the migration into the Southeast of the American coyote, an animal that, in the end, surprises him with its intelligence, resilience, and amazing adaptability.

    From her home on Old Screamer Mountain overlooking Clayton, Georgia, Smith wrote and spoke openly against racism, segregation, and Jim Crow laws long before the civil rights era.Bringing together short stories, lectures, essays, op-ed pieces, interviews, and excerpts from her longer fiction and nonfiction, A Lillian Smith Reader offers the first comprehensive collection of her work and a compelling introduction to one of the South's most important writers.A conservatory-trained music teacher who left the profession to assume charge of her family's girls' camp in Rabun County, Georgia, Smith began her literary careerwriting for a journal that she coedited with her lifelong companion, Paula Snelling, successively titled Pseudopodia (1936), the North Georgia Review (1937-41), and South Today (1942-45). Known today for her controversial, best-selling novel, Strange Fruit (1944); her collection of autobiographical essays, Killers of the Dream (1949); and her lyrical documentary, Now Is the Time (1955), Smith was acclaimed and derided in equal measures as a southern white liberal who critiqued her culture's economic, political, and religious institutions as dehumanizing for all: white and black, male and female, rich and poor. She was also a frequent and eloquent contributor to periodicals such as the Saturday Review, LIFE, the New Republic, the Nation, and the New York Times.The influence of Smith's oeuvre extends far beyond these publications. Her legacy rests on her sense of social justice, her articulation of racial and social inequities, and her challenges to the status quo. In their totality, her works propose a vision of justice and human understanding that we have yet to achieve.

    . . turns out she’s an alcoholic serial killer hell-bent on getting everything her heart desires. She hates her job at Gas 'N Go, but works to fund life's necessities: gambling, eBay, and her schnapps collection. When a hunky Irish actor joins the cast of her favorite soap opera, Judith’s new goal in life is to meet and marry Evan Gallagher. Her husband will just have to deal with it. Nobody would ever guess Judith is insane, that she duct tapes her cat inside a goldfish-shaped bed from hell, or how mad she gets when Harry Qualls struts down the street with his mailman purse. Her biggest secret, however, is the way she deals with people stupid enough to piss her off. On her shit list is a dangerous place to be, but she’s taking names. She hasn’t been held accountable for her crimes before, but a girl can never be too careful.

    Danny takes you into the stories of the people⎯ the rangers, volunteers, and visitors⎯ and goes beyond the sites shown on the map. Raised as a Yankee, Danny set out to become a Southerner, one national park at a time. Forests, Alligators, Battlefields: My Journey through the National Parks of the South is a personal and passionate tale of national and self-discovery.