It has been a busy year for the indie bookstores in our state. Lisa Howorth published Flying Shoes, an honest, bittersweet novel about an unsolved murder finally getting the attention it deserved- showing her customers at Square Books she knows how to write as well as sell books. Our fearless leader John put together a brilliant book of photographs with the help of photographer Ken Murphy to showcase what people from Jackson needed a reminder of: there’s something beautiful in our capitol city. Jamie Kornegay of Turnrow Books is now a member of this small club. His first novel Soil has just been released and I am quickly digging my way to the bottom of it.
Jay Mize is a smart but obsessive man who sees the writing on the walls that an apocalypse is coming; he’s just not sure which one yet. A farm is the smart way to save his family from the coming crash of civilization- unless it drives them away first. When he finds a body on the land surrounding his home, his mistrust of society leads him to quietly dispose of it. Unfortunately for him, the local deputy is out cruising for women in his Mustang and chasing his estranged wife. He might even try to solve the case. Far from being the traditional who-dun-it, this is a novel with a very clear sense of place and people. The kind of place where a warning shot to a man on your property can lead to conversation just as easily as a “hello.”
They say write what you know, and Jamie Kornegay shows just how much he knows about the web that ties small towns together and the secrets they have buried in their back yards. Come see him this Thursday at 5 and get a signed copy of Soil to find out for yourself if you want to learn what he knows: we are all a product of the land from which we came.
Written by Daniel
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