Southern Review of Books

11/12/2025

"Hutton’s narrative moves nonlinearly, shifting between the 1940s and 1970s, as well as geographically between Washington, D.C. and North Carolina. This temporal fluidity may initially disorient readers, but it becomes integral to the story’s emotional architecture, reflecting the fragmented nature of memory and regret while tracing the characters’ dreams, unconscious desires, and recollections."

New review of IF YOU LEAVE by Margaret Hutton. Regal House Publishing

Through interwoven narratives, Hutton uncovers how leaving can be an act of love, growth, and self-discovery, especially between mothers and daughters.

11/07/2025

"Unsurprisingly, much of BEARD reads like really good gossip. I was hooked from the start, in part because I wanted to know how it all unraveled, but also because the unraveling is done in a way that is both like a confession and an intro to q***r theory."

New review of Kelly Foster Lundquist's BEARD. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

“Beard: A Memoir of a Marriage” by Kelly Foster Lundquist threads religion, sexuality, identity and acceptance.

11/05/2025

"In these places, Brown discovered that the land was teeming with life, ultimately coming to recognize this life as an indication of the remarkable resilience of wild nature thriving in the interstitial habitat humans had abandoned. This realization catalyzed his project, driven as he is by the belief that by working to heal the wounds we have made on the landscape, we might also begin to heal the conflicts within ourselves."

New review of A NATURAL HISTORY OF EMPTY LOTS by Christopher Brown. Timber Press

A review of Christopher Brown’s “A Natural History of Empty Lots,” which records Brown’s exploration of the murky lines between “nature” and “civilization.…

10/28/2025

SRB Editor Victoria Ward talks about her favorite spooky (yet nightmare-free) shows to watch this Halloween.

SRB Editor Victoria Ward talks about her favorite spooky yet nightmare-free shows for Halloween.

10/25/2025

Looking for something new this month? Check out this list of fantastic October releases!

https://southernreviewofbooks.com/2025/10/24/best-southern-books-of-october-2025/

10/22/2025

"The novel’s 'soft apocalypse,' as the narrator might call it, is set in the near future and bears many of the markers of dystopian science fiction. ... the planet provides no stability or safety; neither do institutions or governments."

New review of HAPPY BAD by Delaney Nolan. Astra House Books

What would have felt, twenty years ago, like a fairly extreme climate apocalypse novel reads like tomorrow’s news, or even yesterday’s.

10/21/2025

"More than most books, an essay collection reveals the author’s character: we read him in different circumstances, confronted by new conflicts, and through this continual shift of setting and time we witness his true self which, in Harrigan’s case, is a self defined by humility and heart."

New review of AN ANCHOR IN THE SEA OF TIME by Stephen Harrigan. University of Texas Press

A review of author Stephen Harrigan’s first essay collection since 2013.

10/20/2025

"Despite the heat of grief, the stories offer vignettes of respite in the catharsis that comes after loss, reminiscent of embers glittering like stars in ashen remains."

New review of WHAT REMAINS AFER A FIRE by Kanza Javed. W. W. Norton & Company

Kanza Javed’s debut burns bright with grief, memory, and unflinching beauty.

10/10/2025

"I’ve listened obsessively to the way people in Kentucky speak, especially in rural areas. It’s glorious. There’s a music to it. I get in my car and carry on conversations with myself from the mouths of people I’ve heard speak just as a means of entertainment. I take that same energy to the page."

New interview with Chris McGinley and Wes Brown on THEY ALL FALL THE SAME. Crooked Lane Books

If you wanna take a hell-ride into central Kentucky, read Wes Browne’s newest novel, “They All Fall the Same.”

10/08/2025

"Marce Catlett is not interested in individual responses to how rural life and agriculture have changed during the last century but in the importance of communally remembering a history on the verge of being wiped out."

New review of Wendell Berry's latest, MARCE CATLETT: THE FORCE OF A STORY. Counterpoint Press

A review of Wendell Berry’s newest novel, “Marce Catlett: The Force of a Story.”

10/07/2025

"Girl Warrior dives into the inspiration and intentions that inspired Harjo’s career, including community activism, creative writing and music. Harjo does all this while oscillating between talking to the reader and to her younger self. 'You are my niece, grandchild, aunt, or friend, a young woman I have met along the way during my travels,' she writes."

New review of GIRL WARRIOR by Joy Harjo, out today! W. W. Norton & Company

Advice for living abounds in the latest essay collection from poet and jazz musician Joy Harjo.