Reading the South
New Fiction by Regional Authors, July 2004
by Hal Jacobs
for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Some people is born at the start of a long hard row to hoe," says Arty, the narrator of Sheila Kay Adams' brilliant debut novel, My Old True Love (Algonquin Books, $23.95). "Well, I am older than God's dog and been in this world a long time and it seems to me that right from the git-go, Larkin Stanton had the longest and hardest row I've ever seen."

Thus begins an account of a love story - one as passionate and eventful as an Irish ballad - that takes place in the North Carolina mountains in the years surrounding the Civil War. Hardship and music bind the Stanton family together, and Larkin knows both all too well. From a tender age, he learns every ballad known to his grandmother, and he falls deeply in love with a girl who only has eyes for his fiddle-playing, womanizing cousin.

As the cousins grow into manhood, they become inseparable as best friends and rivals. When the war finally reaches their remote hamlet, the fighting pushes them toward a fateful, treacherous encounter.

What makes the novel ring so true is the voice of the narrator. In her 80s, Arty shares her family stories with the heart of someone who has lived and loved deeply and wisely - someone who values equally the innocent pleasures of childhood and the earthy pleasures of womanhood.

From her first simple words to her last, Arty draws the reader into the warmth and lyrical power of her story. And she weaves traditional folk ballads so tightly into the fabric of the story that these songs become some of the most intense and deeply felt moments of the novel.

The author, a seventh-generation Appalachian, is a well-known storyteller and has performed in several documentaries. She was technical director for the film "Songcatcher" and contributed to "The Last of the Mohicans."

* * *

A young African-American man in a small Louisiana town struggles to do the right thing in Ernest Hill's It's All About the Moon When the Sun Ain't Shining (Dafina Books, $24). Maurice must decide between a full scholarship to law school or an ultimatum by his hometown fiancée to "be a man" and get married.

When Maurice decides to put love before law, he runs head on into his mother, a domestic employee who warns him about losing his heart to a long-legged hussy. Before Maurice makes a decision that will affect the rest of his life, he finds inspiration from an unlikely source: the daughter of his mother's employers.

Hill describes the friendship that develops between the young man and woman with great sensitivity, just as he handles all the emotions in this quiet, realistic novel.

Hill is the author of three previous novels: "Cry Me a River," "A Life for a Life" and "Satisfied With Nothin'." He lives in Baton Rouge, La., where he is a writer-in-residence at Southern University.

* * *

Gritz Goldberg, a burned-out psychiatrist with a raging foot fetish, is the quirky hero of David Schulman's debut mystery novel, The Past Is Never Dead (John F. Blair, $22.95).

In Asheville, N.C. (where the author lives), Gritz becomes involved with an old family friend who sees ghosts. Actually, he sees one ghost, who was falsely accused and executed for a 1939 murder in the Battery Park Hotel.

As Gritz digs deeper into the circumstances of the murder, he learns about some pro-Hitler, anti-Roosevelt shenanigans that occurred in the South during that era. Of course, Gritz stirs up a pot of trouble that brings him the unwanted attention of local eccentrics and the inconvenience of a murder rap.

* * *

Dallas Dupree is a young African-American who has plenty going for him in Travis Hunter's A One Woman Man (Random House, $22.95). He's an inspiration to his students at Alonzo Crim High School in Atlanta, to his neighbors in the city's West End neighborhood and to the young daughter he is raising by himself. That's why people find it so hard to believe when he's arrested for the aggravated assault and rape of a fellow teacher.

As Dallas struggles to clear his name, his sister, a prominent doctor, has her own problems, as she tries to rescue a niece who is headed for trouble in her Carver Homes neighborhood. She also has a new husband with a secret past as a big-time loser.

Fortunately for Dallas and Carmen, their older brother, Priest Dupree, has all the makings of a Hollywood action hero. A former cop, he has become the city's most feared drug lord. When Priest shows up, problems disappear.

Hunter, who lives in Atlanta, is the author of three previous Essence best sellers: "Trouble Man," "Married but Still Looking" and "The Hearts of Men."

An edited version of these reviews appeared in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sunday, July 15, 2004.

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