The Best of The Small Presses Fall 2022

Connie Hertzberg Mayo’s latest novel, THE SHARP EDGE OF MERCY (Heliotrope Books) is about a nursing  assistant in 1890 at the New York Cancer Hospital. It's a beautifully written, gripping novel about social inequities, medical ethics, and the enduring challenges for women in healthcare and the workplace. Told by an indomitable and likable young heroine, it marks a superb return for the author, who debuted with award-winning THE ISLAND OF WORTHY BOYS. Kirkus Reviews said, “Mayo brings her characters and settings to life with deft prose and careful research….A compelling and diverse historical novel.”

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Fran Hawthorne’s new novel, I MEANT TO TELL YOU, hits shelves on November 15^th (Stephen F. Austin State University Press). When Miranda Isaacs agrees to help her friend, Ronit, take her young daughter back home to Israel in the midst of a messy divorce, she doesn’t realize they’re breaking the law. Seven years later, the repercussions of their arrest at Dulles Airport will threaten Miranda’s engagement and her fiancé’s job, and unravel three families’ long-held secrets that stretch back to Vietnam War protests. THE INDYPENDENT called it "...complex, evocative and nuanced....the richly-drawn characters in I Meant To Tell You are both wholly human and wholly believable; humor and pathos seamlessly intertwine in this resonant and revealing narrative."  

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LIFE AND OTHER SHORTCOMINGS is "a compelling collection that captures the mystery and menace beneath love and family life."—Kirkus Review. These linked stories won an International Book Award, an American Fiction Award and an IBPA Ben Franklin Award.

Sponsored by Corie Adjimi

In this historical literary piece set in 1917 Southern Appalachia—and winner of
a William Faulkner Literary Competition honorable mention—an herbalist
healer finds herself accused of witchcraft and targeted by the KKK as a result
of challenging racial discrimination and suppression of women.

Kirkus Reviews calls it “a notable tale that offers the hope that even small
actions can lead toward greater good,” and Donna Everhart, author of The
Road to Bittersweet and The Saints of Swallow Hill, says, “ . . . a keen eye for
detail and an intricate plot leading to a satisfying conclusion, this tale is sure to
enchant readers.”"a compelling collection that captures the mystery and menace beneath love and family life."—Kirkus Review. These linked stories won an International Book Award, an American Fiction Award and an IBPA Ben Franklin Award.

Sponsored by Adele Holmes