From T. Geronimo Johnson’s epic crime tale set in Atlanta, “The Occidental Book of the Dead,” to Barbara Kingsolver’s intimate love story, “Partita,” fall promises a bounty of beguiling books. Here are six we’re eagerly anticipating.
Atlanta author Lydia Mathis’ literary debut features candid, revealing short stories. They explore the experiences of Black girls and women navigating a world that judges their bodies, turns a deaf ear to their voices, crosses boundaries and attempts to exert control. In “Push,” family and medical personnel discount an expectant mother’s chest pains as she struggles to deliver her firstborn. In “Girlhood Lessons,” a 7-year-old girl is shamed for her body and learns that not all children are loved equally in her home. (Roxane Gay Books, Sept. 15)
Mathis will be in conversation with activist and doula Yemi Combahee at Charis Books & More Sept. 22. For details go to charisbooksandmore.com. She also appears on a panel at the Decatur Book Festival Oct. 3. For details go to decaturbookfestival.com
“The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman”
Miami author Deesha Philyaw made her literary debut in 2020 to great fanfare with her funny, outrageous short story collection “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies,” winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the LA Times Book Prize for first fiction and a finalist for the National Book Award. That same fresh voice, replete with eviscerating social commentary, enlivens her debut novel about the wife of a megachurch pastor who endures a humiliating fall from grace and exacts revenge on the holier-than-thou church community that’s always looked down on her. (Mariner, Sept. 29)
Philyaw will be in conversation with Kennesaw State University professor Regina Bradley at the Lawrenceville-Hooper Renwick Library Oct. 6. For details go to gwinnettpl.org.
In the days preceding the 1910 appearance of Halley’s comet, the people of Fort Payne, Alabama, believe the world is coming to an end. South Carolina author Scott Gould’s seventh book traces the panicky actions of four individuals as they prepare for the end times: Charlie McCracken, who delivers the mail by mule and cares for an elderly Cherokee woman; his aunt Sister Zona, who conducts baptisms for a fee; Sheriff Tyus Wetley, whose wife’s mental health is rapidly deteriorating; and brothel owner Elva Shugart, who’s worried about a missing, pregnant prostitute. (Regal House Books, Sept. 29)
Winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for “Demon Copperhead,” a sprawling retelling of “David Copperfield” set in Appalachia, Kentucky author Barbara Kingsolver returns with an intimate tale of love, loss, art and ambition. When her quiet life in a small farming community is interrupted by a phone call from a past lover wanting to meet, middle-aged Livia relives her memories from a time when she was consumed by their passionate affair and her ambition as a classical pianist. In deciding whether to meet him, Livia strives to reconcile the fractured parts of her past with her present. (Harper, Oct. 6)
GPB presents Kingsolver in a virtual author event Nov. 5. For details go to gpb.org.
Starting in 1918 and spanning nearly six decades from the Appalachian Mountains to New York City, Silas House’s new novel examines two forbidden love affairs thwarted by the era’s taboos against same sex and mixed-race coupling. Tom and Maeve are best friends living in the small town of Bright Star, Kentucky. They acquiesce to convention and eventually marry, but Tom loves a man named Amos, and Maeve, who is white, loves Paschal, who is Black. In luxurious prose appropriate for the former poet laureate of Kentucky, House charts the star-crossed lovers’ yearning over the course of their lives. (Algonquin Books, Oct. 13)
The Decatur Book Festival presents House in conversation with singer/songwriter Caroline Herring at the Marriott Conference Center Oct. 3. For details go to decaturbookfestival.com.
“The Occidental Book of the Dead”
New Orleans native T. Geronimo Johnson’s ambitious, 672-page novel about systemic racism is set in Atlanta (called Atlantis) and employs an unusual structure to tell a gritty crime story and then tell it again without the Hollywood happy ending. Starting in 1992, the narrative centers on police officer George Washington Jonson, a Black man who grew up poor and ambitious with aspirations of living an affluent life. Fast forward to 2005, Jonson is feeling accomplished living in Buckhead (called Buck’s Crossing) and married to a white woman. But the police shooting of a white teenager forces Jonson to question the compromises he’s made to build the life he has. (William Morrow Books, Oct. 6)
Suzanne Van Atten is a columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She may be reached at Suzanne.VanAtten@ajc.com.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
