Malaprop’s extends a special invitation to attend John Milliken Thompson’s reading from his new novel, Love and Lament on Wednesday, October 17, at 7pm.
Set in rural North Carolina between the Civil War and the Great War, Love and Lament chronicles the hardships and misfortunes of the Hartsoe family. Mary Bet, the youngest of nine children, coming of age at the turn of the twentieth century, confronts the hazards of patriarchy and prejudice. In the rich tradition of Southern gothic literature, John Milliken Thompson transports the reader back in time to explore what it means to be a woman charting her own destiny in a rapidly evolving world dominated by men.
“A seamlessly told and scrupulously detailed history of the Hartsoe clan of Haw County, North Carolina, Love and Lament is that rare novel that brings the gritty, rural past to vivid life. I could very nearly smell the moonshine (the moonshiners too!). Pass a few hours with Mary Bet Hartsoe and family. You won’t regret it.” –T. R. Pearson, author of Jerusalem Gap and A Short History of a Small Place.
Thompson’s first visit to Malaprop’s marked the publication of his novel, The Reservoir.