Irish-American Women

Since this is the last day of March, I thought I'd better get this posted. Not only do we celebrate our Irish heritage but it is also Women's History Month, so I combined the two subjects and came up with some great Irish-American women authors!
The first three have a couple of things in common: one, they are all considered "Classic" authors, and two, they all died at a young age due to tragic circumstances. Kate Chopin died at the age of 54 of a cerebral aneurysm before being recognized as one of the first great feminist authors. Her novel "The Awakening" is considered a masterpiece. Pulitzer prize winning author Margaret Mitchell died at the age of 49 after being struck by a car in Atlanta. Her novel "Gone with the Wind" is one of our best-loved stories of the Civil War era. Savannah native Flannery O'Connor, known for her Southern Gothic stories and novels, died of complications from Lupus at the tender age of 39. Try one or more books by these great ladies and experience the past through their eyes.

Some other authors to try:
Mary Higgins Clark--bestselling suspense novelist.
Alice McDermott--1998 National Book Award/1999 American Book Award winner.
Anna Quindlen--magazine columnist and novelist for over 30 years.
Nora Roberts--Hall of Fame romance novelist and writing machine.

Southern Gothic

I recently read a fascinating novel by Cherie Priest called Four and Twenty Blackbirds. I thoroughly enjoyed the supernatural aspects and her writing style which is considered Southern Gothic. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Southern Gothic is "a style of writing practiced by many writers of the American South whose stories set in that region are characterized by grotesque, macabre, or fantastical incidents." Some classics include The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Wise Blood, Bastard Out of Carolina, No Country for Old Men, and most anything by William Faulkner.

These are a few newer examples of this style:

The River Wife by Jonis Agee

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Hunting the King by Peter Clenott

Deep in the Shade of Paradise by John Dufresne

Women of Magdalene by Rosemary Poole-Carter