On the Southern Literary Trail discussion

Comments on this board are made with the assumption that readers have finished the book and may include spoilers.

I enjoyed this book but I doubt that it will stick with me for long. I liked the women that she wrote about but she certainly didn't have many good things to say about the men in their lives. She said in the afterward that she signed her agreement with her agent on the same day that she signed her divorce papers, a comment that made me wonder if writing the book was, in part, a therapeutic exercise for working out the anger that comes with a broken marriage.

That’s an interesting take, Tom. She certainly seemed angry!

She did seem angry at the world in this one. I did some reading online after I finished the book, and it seems like she didn't take kindly to any criticism of her book, and has now decided to live in Europe. That's a little extreme.

Sensitivity and being offended as an author/musician/artist doesn’t usually go over well.

It turns more people against you than not, I imagine.

Diane wrote: "She did seem angry at the world in this one."

Well, that speaks to her comments to readers who were less than thrilled with her book.
I'm definitely passing on this one and appreciate you readers who scouted it out.

Who knows what the controversy was about? Inquiring minds want to know.

Tom wrote: "Who knows what the controversy was about? Inquiring minds want to know."

https://youtu.be/abGz0B_zfbY

Oh Sam that looks so good - but I want to read the book first to form my own opinion. I can't wait to get back here to open this video up!

Ooh, tempting, Sam, but I must finish the book first!

Sam wrote: "Tom wrote: "Who knows what the controversy was about? Inquiring minds want to know."

https://youtu.be/abGz0B_zfbY"

Sam, thanks for this link. Ms. Tara is certainly spicy!
I've been struggling to finish her book... I'm less inclined to keep persisting in my efforts after reading her arrogant response to Chocolate Covered Pages.

Sam wrote: "Tom wrote: "Who knows what the controversy was about? Inquiring minds want to know."

https://youtu.be/abGz0B_zfbY"

Wow! Should I be worried after what I said about the men in her book? I had the exact same reaction as the woman in the video. "I like the book, but the men..."

Actually, since we have all said things we regret in the spur of the moment, let's be fair and give equal time to this video about Stringfellow and her book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcgDI...

From this video it is very apparent that Memphis is highly autobiographical, even down to the references about big foreheads. Even though we struggle to see the good in the men in her book, wouldn't it be difficult for her, as the author, to see other people ripping on people who are very real, and very important to her?

I tend to be more critical Tom. When you send a book out into the world, readers are free to think what they like about any aspect of the novel, good or bad. It might be harder if it's autobiographical, but if you can't stand the heat........

Diane wrote: "I tend to be more critical Tom. When you send a book out into the world, readers are free to think what they like about any aspect of the novel, good or bad. It might be harder if it's autobiograph..."

I'm not saying her remarks weren't uncalled for, just that we shouldn't let those posts alone shape our opinions.

Oh guys! I gotta get thru this book so I can see what all the chit chat is about.........Arg!!!!!!

Sam, I loved the lady from Chocolate Covered Pages! Thanks for posting!

I have finished. I will give this book 2.5 stars but round it up to 3. I couldn’t stand the men and thought the ending somewhat abrupt and contrived, and way too easy on them at the last minute. Sexual assault and physical abuse are just not that easy to forgive. And I believe in forgiveness and think it is underrated in modern times. But to earn forgiveness takes change, change of heart, remorse, self-reflection, apology, etc. What change did those male characters go through that they deserved Joan’s forgiveness? In the end, i sped up the audiobook just get through it. The book also had very little of the poetry that the author says she loves. However, feeling just a bit generous, I will round up to 3. With this posting, which will double as my review, I am finished with this book.

My feelings exactly Terry. Perfectly stated.

I also gave this three stars, but I am going to defend the author since though I felt the same as many of you, I loved the description of seeing the house in the first few pages, the introduction of Jax and his uniform, and various other scenes in the novel. I think having multiple trigger points like child sexual assault and spousal physical abuse distracted from each other and alienated the reader and felt that a first novelist characteristic, where in a future novel the author might try and develop one of those while cutting the others. I felt the novel worked well pared with Leila Mottley's Nightcrawling and Honorée Fanonne Jeffers' The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois to give a varied regional picture of the U.S. from the perspective of contemporary black first time female authors.
On the social media drama and the seeming arrogance of the author, I am going to blame the times for the first and point out the self promoted or publicist promoted elements of the author's bio on the second to note that what we percieve as arrogance may just be quirks of an achieved young author who is used to fighting to get where she wants to be. I'll give her a pass and hope for another interesting novel.

Her social media comments were interesting, but had nothing to do with my impressions of the book. It was obviously a first novel where the author felt she had to include everything she knew , but she may fix that in future works, if she can get over her fear of criticism.

Ok I have watched the ChocolateCoveredPages video. She is a little spit fire! Altho I have not yet opened the authors link, I tend to agree with the video. I feel it is inappropriate for the author to give any feedback to the opinions of the people who have read her work. Once you put a book out there you better have tough enough skin to take the bad with the good. Even a perfect book will not be loved by all. Once published, altho it may have taken years and many hours of crying and turmoil, it is released to the public and their opinion. If you can't take the comments either don't read the reviews or don't publish a book. Now on to the other link - the author

I felt a vib off Stringfellow that was - for lack of a better word - uncomfortable. An arrogance maybe? It was apparent that she wrote an autobiography disguised as fiction. Not sure how I feel about that, but I am sure that many authors have done the same thing. This video did not change my mind, as I stated in the above post. She appeared to be confident enough to let people say what they would about her book - but obviously she isn't. Jaz and Derek slid under the radar when they should have been held to a higher account. Stringfellow should have addressed this in the book and not been so protective of their wrong doing - whether they were relatives or not. It appears she had blinders on. Getting into a public argument did not garner my approval of her, nor do I think she was correct in doing so.

My final thoughts are I liked the book. It is too bad it had this ugly controversy attached to it, but I believe it was the authors fault that that happened. Whether that will be to her benefit in the future - we will see...

I thought the book had a few debut novel problems, but other than that it was okay. Not great.