As a full-time English professor at Blinn College, I always try to choose stories for the literature classes I teach which will resonate with students. Likewise, as an author myself, I aim for that same approach with fiction writing: I want people to remember and reflect on what they read. Memorable settings can help achieve that, so it’s my pleasure to share some of these inAmerica's South that span both the classic side of the spectrum as well as the contemporary side.
Kate Chopin’s body of work vividly depicts Creole life in Louisiana while focusing on matters of the heart.
The Awakening follows Edna Pontellier through a summer at Grand Isle, where “she [begins] to loosen a little.” Short chapters with brisk pacing unfold in this novella alongside breezy Gulf Coast descriptions. Chopin writes without judgment of her characters and instead allows her audience full autonomy to contemplate their decisions, empowering them in the process.
e Awakening, originally titled A Solitary Soul, is a novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899. Set in New Orleans and on the Louisiana Gulf coast at the end of the 19th century, the plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century American South. It is one of the earliest American novels that focuses on women's issues without condescension. It is also widely seen as a landmark work of early feminism, generating a mixed reaction from contemporary readers and critics.The novel's…
Georgia-born Flannery O’Connor gifted the world with dozens of stories, which can be read individually or collectively.
Set on farms, in small towns, and off-the-beaten path, she colorfully explores both people and places, inviting readers along to do the same. Some stories are folksy, some are humorous, and some are dark, but one thread is constant: her highly individualized style is built on strong literary conventions.
The publication of this extraordinary volume firmly established Flannery O'Connor's monumental contribution to American fiction.
There are thirty-one stories here in all, including twelve that do not appear in the only two story collections O'Connor put together in her short lifetime--Everything That Rises Must Converge and A Good Man Is Hard to Find.
O'Connor published her first story, "The Geranium," in 1946, while she was working on her master's degree at the University of Iowa. Arranged chronologically, this collection shows that her last story, "Judgement Day"--sent to her publisher shortly before her death―is a…
Selected by Deesha Philyaw as winner of the AWP Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction, Lake Song is set in the fictional town of Kinder Falls in New York’s Finger Lakes region. This novel in stories spans decades to plumb the complexities, violence, and compassion of small-town life as the…
Southern sass and situational humor anchor Susan Sands’ novels.
Her first series set in fictional Ministry, Alabama, and her second in fictional Cypress Bayou, Louisiana, allow readers to meet a large cast of characters, some of which are sure to become favorites. Any book in her series can be an entry point as a stand-alone, but starting with Again, Alabama is an entertaining first step.
Cammie Laroux is back in Alabama—again. Dragged back to her small town to help her mother recover from surgery while rescuing the family event planning business should be a cinch. Even for a disgraced television chef, right? Wrong. Among the many secrets Cammie’s family’s been hiding is the fact that their historic home is falling down. Oh, and the man hired to restore the house, Grey Harrison, is the same high school and college love of her life who thrashed her heart and dreams ten years ago. Yeah, that guy. Grey, a widower with a young daughter, has never stopped…
Sink into the rich setting of North Carolina, which becomes a character of its own in this lyrical novel.
Readers follow Kya and her loving connection to the place that raised her, particularly as “the marsh became her mother” early in life. Her coming-of-age journey will tug at readers’ hearts, and though there is a film based on this novel, readers should enjoy the book first.
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For years, rumours of the 'Marsh Girl' have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be…
Truth told, folks still ask if Saul Crabtree sold his soul for the perfect voice. If he sold it to angels or devils. A Bristol newspaper once asked: “Are his love songs closer to heaven than dying?” Others wonder how he wrote a song so sad, everyone who heard it…
Southern life shines in all its quirks and beauty in this debut novel by contemporary author Laurie Beach.
The Firefly Jar is about a woman returning to her mother’s South Carolina roots only to uncover family secrets. The title becomes a thread for the plot which, like a firefly jar, will capture readers, too. And with more books planned, this fresh new voice is one to watch!
Danica Lara hasn't been seeing clearly. Blinded by the lure of profit in a partnership with her best friend s ex, she's also battling changes in her vision, which prompts a visit to Dr. Grady Urban, the new optometrist in town. Yet the hunky doctor who looks deep into her eyes senses that she needs more than glasses.
Trying to make a name for himself in a small town, Grady offers more than just optometry expertise as he plays armchair psychiatrist to clients who need some quiet hand-holding. With Danica, Grady finds himself attracted not only to helping her but also to partnering with her in a public school charity outreach. But mixing business and pleasure results in blurred vision for them both.
Won a Silver medal from The 2025 Global Book Awards in the category of Biographies and Memoirs – Travel.
A memoir of self-growth, hard lessons, and inspiration for anyone yearning for a life of adventure and the courage to pursue what it means to find home.
This is a personal story of Carole and her rise from the ashes of tragedy as a fourteen year old, to success in many areas of her life. Carole graphically depicts the story of how success is the result of a passion and determination that comes from deep inside
