The Dry Grass of August

Today is the official publication date. Already Amazon has a great deal on both the original paperback and the Kindle edition. Scoot right over and get a copy. Or even better, if you don't have an eReader, hustle out to your Independent Bookstore and buy it.

(I have no affiliation with the author or the publisher and knew nothing of the book until I opened it. Just so you know. ☺)

Delta Magazine sent me this book to review. And I loved it.

From what I've read, the author is a first-time novelist who has been writing, revising and starting over again for quite a few years.

Good for her!


Click here for a great interview, up now on Amazon. Or check her website, here, and maybe you'll be lucky enough to hear Mayhew speak about writing the novel in Atlanta, Greenville, Chapel Hill- all over the South. Wow, AJ Mayhew is one busy lady!

Easily compared to Secret Life of Bees and Queen of Palmyra because of the young narrator and the subject matter, The Dry Grass of August is set in the 50s in Charlotte, Pensacola, and South Carolina.

Here's a bit of my review, posted on Amazon and Goodreads:
The narrator's voice is perfect, not so innocent that the events around her are missed. But so much of what happened in that part of the country was just plain hard to figure out for anyone. What at first glance might seem like another "Help" knock-off, is far from it. A lot happens to the family, in deep denial that anything is wrong. A summer trip to the beach has many layers, the characters are so real, the story, ultimately, heartbreaking. I predict you'll want to read this more than once.

Although some of the events are certainly sensational and remarkable, they are never sensationalized. Just a terrifically told story about race, family, first love and so much more, set in troubling times.