March 6th is World Book Day in the UK, and two friends of ours have made the longlist for the World Book Day Search for Talent. Joshilyn Jackson's Gods in Alabama was also a #1 Booksense Pick and won the Southern Independent Book Novel of the Year Award in 2005.
When Arlene Fleet headed off to college in Chicago, she made three promises to God: She would never again lie, she would stop fornicating with every boy who crossed her path, and she'd never, ever go back to her tiny hometown of Possett, Alabama (the "fourth rack of Hell"). All God had to do in exchange was to make sure the body of high school quarterback Jim Beverly was never found.
Ten years later, Arlene has kept her promises, but an old school-mate has recently turned up asking questions. And now Arlene's African American beau has given her a tough ultimatum: introduce him to her family, or he's gone. As she prepares to confront guilt, discrimination, and a decade of deception, Arlene is about to discover just how far she will go to find redemption - and love.
Eliza Graham's Playing With the Moon is due to launch in February and is already getting some good buzz.Shattered by a recent bereavement, Minna and husband Tom retreat to an isolated village on the Dorset coast, hoping to find the solitude that will allow them to cope with their loss and rebuild their foundering marriage. Walking on the beach, they unearth a human skeleton. It is a discovery which will plunge Minna into a mystery which will consume her for months to come. The remains are soon identified as those of Private Lew Campbell, a black American GI who, it seems, drowned during a wartime exercise in the area half a century before. Growing increasingly preoccupied with the dead soldiers fate, Minna befriends a melancholy elderly woman, Felix, who lived in the village during the war. As Minna coaxes Felixs story from her, it becomes clear that the old woman knows more about the dead GI than she initially let on.
It's a little tasky registering to vote, but both these fabulous authors won my support. The long list gets whittled down this weekend. Good luck Eliza and Joshilyn!
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