The Last of the Southern Girls

The Last of the Southern Girls
Author: Willie Morris
Publisher: LSU Press
Total Pages: 306
Release: 1994-08-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780807119563

Carol Hollywell is beautiful, smart, elegant, and charming. A debutante from De Soto Point, Arkansas, and a recent graduate of Ole Miss, she is heir to a good southern name and a small southern fortune. She knows what she wants and, more important, knows how to get it. She is, in other words, the prototypical southern belle, a Scarlett O’Hara for the 1950s, and when she moves to Washington, D.C., in 1957, she sets the town on its ear. Willie Morris’ cleverly conceived and brilliantly executed novel (loosely based on a real-life figure) follows this headstrong woman from her arrival at the Capital and traces the ups and downs of her life in the political and social whirl of the city over the next decade and a half. Eventually, she becomes romantically involved with a prominent congressman—an idealist, a reformer, a man perhaps headed for the very pinnacle of political life. It is at first a dazzling alliance, yet the genuine satisfactions they find in their relationship cannot long withstand the pressures of the ambitions both of them harbor. The very drives that initially brought them together in the end propel their love affair into jeopardy. Morris paints a devastatingly accurate portrait not only of a power-hungry woman but also of the society that feeds such hunger. His descriptions of Washington and its denizens—the politicos, the journalists, the socialites, and the hangers-on—are nothing short of breathtaking.

Secrets of Southern Girls

Secrets of Southern Girls
Author: Haley Harrigan
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2017-06-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 149264756X

"Harrigan's novel, part mystery and part coming-of-age, explores the process of healing from tragedies and misunderstandings."—Publishers Weekly An atmospheric novel about a young woman who uncovers devastating secrets that will resurrect the people she lost and the lies she buried—a suspenseful spin on the tender Southern novel. Ten years ago, Julie Portland accidentally killed her best friend, Reba. What's worse is she got away with it. Consumed by guilt, she left the small town of Lawrence Mill, Mississippi, and swore nothing would ever drag her back. Now, raising her daughter and struggling to make ends meet, Julie still can't forget the ghost of a girl with golden hair and a dangerous secret. When August, Reba's first love, begs Julie to come home to find the diary that Reba kept all those years ago, Julie's past comes creeping back to haunt her. That diary could expose the shameful memories Julie has been running from, but it could also unearth the truths that Reba left buried...and reveal that Julie isn't the only one who feels responsible for Reba's death. A Southern mystery perfect for fans of Diane Chamberlain and Ellen Marie Wiseman, Secrets of Southern Girls, is a thriller that delivers suspense, romance, and healing. "Harrigan is a great prose stylist who knows how to sustain the tension and tone required of a Southern Gothic novel."—ForeWord

Girl of the Southern Sea

Girl of the Southern Sea
Author: Michelle Kadarusman
Publisher: Pajama Press Inc.
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2019-05-23
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1772780812

From the time she was a little girl, Nia has dreamed up adventures about the Javanese mythical princess, Dewi Kadita. Now fourteen, Nia would love nothing more than to continue her education and become a writer. But high school costs too much. Her father sells banana fritters at the train station, but too much of his earnings go toward his drinking habit. Too often Nia is left alone to take over the food cart as well as care for her brother and their home in the Jakarta slums. But Nia is determined to find a way to earn her school fees. After she survives a minibus accident unharmed and the locals say she is blessed with 'good luck magic,' Nia exploits the notion for all its worth by charging double for her fried bananas. Selling superstitions can be dangerous, and when the tide turns it becomes clear that Nia’s future is being mapped without her consent. If Nia is to write a new story for herself, she must overcome more obstacles than she could ever have conceived of for her mythical princess, and summon courage she isn't sure she has.

A Southern Girl

A Southern Girl
Author: John Warley
Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press
Total Pages: 464
Release: 2014-05-08
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1611173922

A Southern family’s adoption of a Korean orphan uncovers long-buried tensions in this novel of family, heritage, and clashing cultures. Set in the insular South of Broad neighborhood of Charleston, South Carolina, A Southern Girl is a tale of international adoption and Southern identity, of family bonds and hidden biases. With two sons and a successful career, Coleman Carter’s life seems complete until his wife, Elizabeth, champions their adoption of a Korean orphan. This seemingly altruistic mission estranges Coleman’s conservative parents and sends him headlong on a journey into the unknown. The arrival of Soo Yun (later called Allie) opens Coleman’s eyes to the subtle racism that had always dominated his sheltered life. Now Coleman must come to terms with his past in order to help Allie on her own life journey. Deftly told through the voices of Allie’s birth mother, her orphanage nurse, her adoptive mother Elizabeth, and finally Coleman himself, A Southern Girl brings readers into Allie’s plights—first for her very survival and then for her sense of identity and belonging. John Warley guides us through the enclaves of southern privilege, the poverty-stricken back alleys of Seoul, South Korea, the jungles of Vietnam, and the stone sidewalks of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, as the bonds between father and daughter become strong enough to confront the trials of their pasts and present alike. Foreword by New York Times bestselling novelist Therese Ann Fowler

The Final Girl Support Group

The Final Girl Support Group
Author: Grady Hendrix
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2021-07-13
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593201256

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER VOTED GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD BEST HORROR NOVEL OF 2021 A Good Morning America Buzz Pick “The horror master…puts his unique spin on slasher movie tropes.”-USA Today A can't-miss summer read, selected by The New York Times, Oprah Daily, Time, USA Today, The Philadelphia Inquirer, CNN, LitHub, BookRiot, Bustle, Popsugar and the New York Public Library In horror movies, the final girls are the ones left standing when the credits roll. They made it through the worst night of their lives…but what happens after? Like his bestselling novel The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, Grady Hendrix’s latest is a fast-paced, frightening, and wickedly humorous thriller. From chain saws to summer camp slayers, The Final Girl Support Group pays tribute to and slyly subverts our most popular horror films—movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream. Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre. For more than a decade, she’s been meeting with five other final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, working to put their lives back together. Then one woman misses a meeting, and their worst fears are realized—someone knows about the group and is determined to rip their lives apart again, piece by piece. But the thing about final girls is that no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
Author: Grady Hendrix
Publisher: Quirk Books
Total Pages: 408
Release: 2020-04-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 168369144X

“This funny and fresh take on a classic tale manages to comment on gender roles, racial disparities, and white privilege all while creeping me all the way out. So good.”—Zakiya Dalila Harris, author of The Other Black Girl Steel Magnolias meets Dracula in this New York Times best-selling horror novel about a women's book club that must do battle with a mysterious newcomer to their small Southern town. Bonus features: • Reading group guide for book clubs • Hand-drawn map of Mt. Pleasant • Annotated true-crime reading list by Grady Hendrix • And more! Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families. One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor's handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. James is well traveled and well read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years. But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already invited him in. Little by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia’s life and try to take everything she took for granted—including the book club—but she won’t surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.

Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life

Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
Author: Deborah Ford
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2004-03-30
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 9780452285064

The New York Times bestselling Southern girls’ guide to succeeding in life—with a foreword by Fannie Flag. They're called Sweet Potato Queens, Steel Magnolias, Ya-Ya Sisters, and Southern Belles, but at heart they're just plain Grits—Girls Raised in the South! Now, Deborah Ford, founder of Grits® Inc., reveals the code behind the distinctive—and irresistible—style of the Southern woman. Equal parts sweet sincerity and sharp, sly humor, The Grits Guide to Life is chock-full of Southern charm: advice, true-life stories from honest-to-god "Grits," recipes, humor, quotable wisdom, and more. Readers will learn vital lessons, including: how to eat a watermelon in a sundress; how to drink like a Southern lady (sip... a lot); and the real meaning of PMS (Precious Mood Southerner). This charming book is destined to become a bible for the Southern girl—whether born and bred, expatriated, or adoptive—and her many admirers. “Funny, wise, charming, and smart...Grits deserves a place on your shelf between Gone With the Wind and the Memphis Junior League cookbook, and I predict in the years to come it will be passed down to daughter along with the family silver and great-grandmother's lace doilies.”—Fannie Flag, from her foreword to The Grits Guide to Life

Southern Girls

Southern Girls
Author: Sheri Bailey
Publisher: Dramatic Publishing
Total Pages: 68
Release: 1996
Genre: African American women
ISBN: 9780871296597

Three black women and three white women are Southern Girls - followed from childhood (circa 1952) through middle age. In a small town a few hours outside of Birmingham, six little girls play together. As teenagers, the invisible line dividing their worlds become ever more pronounced. Wanda-Sue, a light skinned black, teeters between the world of her white half-sister, Charlotte (plus friends Dolly and June-Adele) and her black friends, sisters Ruth and Naomi. Each woman is driven by unique fears, hopes and secrets. As the years pass and their world changes, each woman's dreams are affected by the turbulent times in which they live. Southern Girls is a bittersweet memory play, set against the backdrop of the changing South which mirrors the lives of these six women. -- from back cover.

The Downstairs Girl

The Downstairs Girl
Author: Stacey Lee
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2021-03-02
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1524740977

A Reese's Book Club YA Pick and New York Times Bestseller From the critically acclaimed author of Luck of the Titanic, Under a Painted Sky, and Outrun the Moon comes a powerful novel about identity, betrayal, and the meaning of family. By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady's maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, "Dear Miss Sweetie." When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society's ills, but she's not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender. While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta's most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shadows, is ready to step into the light. With prose that is witty, insightful, and at times heartbreaking, Stacey Lee masterfully crafts an extraordinary social drama set in the New South. "This vividly rendered historic novel will keep readers riveted as witty, observant Jo deals with the dangers of questioning power." --The Washington Post "Holds a mirror to our present issues while giving us a detailed and vibrant picture of life in the past." --The New York Times "A joyful read . . . The Downstairs Girl, for all its serious and timely content, is a jolly good time." --NPR

Lost Girls

Lost Girls
Author: Celina Grace
Publisher: Isaro Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2024-10-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

A haunting? A hallucination? Or something even worse? Twenty three years ago, Maudie Sampson’s childhood friend Jessica disappeared on a family holiday in Cornwall. She was never seen again. In the present day, Maudie is struggling to come to terms with the death of her wealthy father, her increasingly fragile mental health and a marriage that’s under strain. Slowly, she becomes aware that there is someone following her: a blonde woman in a long black coat. As the woman begins to infiltrate her life, Maudie realises no one else appears to be able to see her. Is Maudie losing her mind? Is the woman a figment of her imagination or does she actually exist? Have the crimes of the past caught up with Maudie’s present... or is there something even more sinister going on? Lost Girls is a psychological thriller from crime writer Celina Grace, author of The Kate Redman Mysteries. It is a dark and convoluted mystery that proves that nothing can be taken for granted and that no one is as they seem.