New and noteworthy books from Queen City authors
by J.J. Holshouser
Former Charlotte news anchor Robert Inman has written a novel about a young veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. In Villages, 21-year-old Jonas Boulware returns to his hometown after being severely wounded overseas. Determined to forget the trauma he’s experienced, he faces new trauma at home in the form of an abusive father and a secret family scandal. As Jonas renews friendships and begins to rebuild his life, bits and pieces of his wartime trauma intrude, until he realizes that he’ll never be able to move forward without coming to grips with his past. Before writing Villages, Inman conducted interviews with soldiers returning from war; he hopes the novel will shine a light on the importance of providing comprehensive physical and emotional care to veterans.
In Affordable Housing in Charlotte: What One City’s History Tells Us about America’s Pressing Problem, community historian Tom Hanchett takes a case-study approach, tracking low-rent housing in Charlotte from the beginning of public housing in the 1940s to the present. In the book, Hanchett describes how various programs and policies have led to the construction of affordable housing. He concludes that while history has shown that no one solution has worked to solve the problem of affordable housing, Charlotte has employed a range of approaches that have worked and are working, offering multiple models for how to move forward.
In Laid: A Memoir of Love, Sex, and Marriage, Sarah Gallucci recounts the deep disconnect between her expectations of marriage and motherhood and the reality of being a stay-at-home mom to two young children. Gallucci, a writer and professor at CPCC, describes the feelings of inadequacy and anger she experienced as a new mother, how she turned to drinking to cope, and how she ultimately suggested an open marriage to her husband because she had no desire for intimacy.
Taylor Hartley credits the overturn of Roe v. Wade as the inspiration for her debut novel, Song of the Hell Witch, where magic empowers women trapped inside an oppressive patriarchy. The novel features Prudence Merriweather, a woman who has clawed her way to the top of society. To protect her fragile position, she must continue to make her husband happy and keep her monstrous magic a secret. But when her magic betrays her, Pru enlists the help of an old flame to escape the city. As they try to reach Stormlash, a safe haven where women and their magic can flourish, they must first confront a growing evil threatening to devour the country they call home.
International bestselling author Joy Callaway has written two new novels set in or near Charlotte. In The Star of Camp Greene, set in 1918, Broadway performer Calla Calloway contracts the Spanish flu while entertaining American troops at Charlotte’s Camp Greene. While recovering, Calla inadvertently overhears a sensitive Army secret and is ordered to remain at Camp Greene for the duration of the war. When Calla falls in love with the man responsible for trapping her at camp, she is faced with an impossible choice. In Sing Me Home to Carolina, a Charlotte event planner returns to her South Carolina hometown to help her parents only to find her heart being tugged between an old flame and the town’s mysterious new guy.
Local therapist, life coach and podcast host Michelle Chalfant released The Adult Chair: Get Unstuck, Claim Your Power, and Transform Your Life, a book designed to help people break free from unhealthy patterns and beliefs. The book is based on Chalfant’s Adult Chair Model, which explores the three key stages of human development using a framework of three chairs: child, adolescent and adult. Chalfant explains that by examining and working through each stage, people can begin to understand how early life experiences shaped their thoughts and behaviors — and how they can ultimately grow into adults who feel worthy, empowered and lovable.
Former banker George Kaloudis’ novel set in North Carolina tells the story of a son who wants to take over the family’s sawmill business, even though his father has bigger dreams for him. On Sawdust and Broken Glass is a coming-of-age story that explores themes of family legacy, generational dynamics and finding identity in one’s profession. Kaloudis said he wrote the novel, his first, because the story was inside his head and he couldn’t stand the thought of it not making it out.
Emerald is the second book in Brittany Leake’s young adult fantasy series,the Gemstones Trilogy. The series features Zhafaera, a princess on the run fighting against dragons and dark forces threatening her realm. In Emerald, couple Zhafaera and Delan face new dangers on the horizon while trying to manage Zhafaera’s pregnancy and protect their unborn child. As war looms and deadly secrets emerge, their love is tested in ways they never imagined. SP
Kids’ Fare
In I Got You by critically acclaimed author Derrick Barnes, Rasheed learns important lessons about worms and mud pies from his beloved big brother, Anthony, including how to be a big brother himself. For children ages 3-7.
Captain Courage and the Fear-Squishing Shoes, Stacey Marshall’s latest release in her Captain Courage series, features shy third grader Katie, who shrivels during show-and-tell and on the playground until a unique superhero shows her how to gain self-confidence. For children ages 4-11.
In Ali Fitzgerald’s graphic novel Squeak Chatter Bark: An Eco-Mystery, Hazel McCrimlisk’s scientist parents are kidnapped inside the ecosphere where they live and work, and Hazel and her peculiar assortment of friends must work together to find them. For children ages 8-12.
Patrice Gopo’s Ripening Time, a celebration of the way food and family intertwine, tells the story of a young girl eagerly anticipating the fried plantains her mama will make on Sunday. For children ages 4-7.
