gods in Alabama

"Joshilyn Jackson's stellar debut has all the elements of great southern fiction, a plucky heroine with a sense of humor,a gripping tale and a mysterious dead body that needs explanation. Arlene Fleet, with a crystal clear voice and purpose takes the reader on a wild ride of despair, hope and redemption that no reader is likely to ever forget. What a storyteller! What a new, original voice!"
- Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of Big Stone Gap and Lucia, Lucia.

gods in Alabama - cover

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When Arlene Fleet headed off to college in Chicago, she made three promises to God: She would never again lie, she would stop fornicating with every boy who crossed her path, and she'd never, ever go back to her tiny hometown of Possett, Alabama (the "fourth rack of Hell"). All God had to do in exchange was to make sure the body of high school quarterback Jim Beverly was never found.

Ten years later, Arlene has kept her promises, but an old school-mate has recently turned up asking questions. And now Arlene's African American beau has given her a tough ultimatum: introduce him to her family, or he's gone. As she prepares to confront guilt, discrimination, and a decade of deception, Arlene is about to discover just how far she will go to find redemption - and love.

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A #1 BookSense Pick!
Winner of SIBA's 2005 Novel of the Year Award

"This winning novel is the kind that readers crave: you can't stop turning the pages, but you wish it would never end."
- Christina Schwarz,author of Drowning Ruth and All is Vanity

"This bright, tender, eccentric novel grabbed me on page one and never let go. I'm sure Flannery O'Connor is smiling down at Joshilyn Jackson, for writing such a fine first novel of the deep south. Her phrases are so funny, true, and unexpected--a joy to read. Be prepared for a heart-wrenching ride, all the way to redemption. gods in Alabama is crazy good."
- Luanne Rice, author of Beach Girls and Dance With Me

"Joshilyn Jackson's story of friendship, murder, love and betrayal is as rich and mysterious as Spanish moss. A knock-out first novel full of astonishing surprises."
- Lolly Winston, author of Good Grief

"I couldn't put this book down. From the first chapter, the plot leaps forward, and it doesn't stop twisting and turning until the last page...It's like watching a movie and watching the making of the movie at the same time. Funky and cool."
- Melanie Sumner, author of The School of Beauty and Charm

"A lively, fun, yet compelling read... Read the startling first sentence of gods in Alabama, then try to put it down."
- Cassandra King, author of The Sunday Wife and The Same Sweet Girls

"A compelling, darkly humorous read that kept me turning the pages."
- Haywood Smith, author of The Red Hats Ride Again

"There are goddesses in Alabama, powerful and fallible, fierce and funny, memorable women whose antics sometimes shock and sometimes teach and often make us laugh. Joshilyn Jackson knows these women, knows all their scars and beauty marks, and she writes of them with honesty and grace and an abundance of love . She might just be one of them herself. As Arlene says of her Aunt Florence, "I had no way to absolve her except the truth." Get ready for it."
- Maryanne Stahl, author of Forgive the Moon and The Opposite Shore

"In the tradition of the finest southern storytelling, gods in Alabama is an engrossing tale about the pull and poison of family and the prickly, redemptive task of confronting one's past. Joshilyn Jackson delivers a deeply satisfying debut novel, laced with uproarious humor and fierce, tender, winning characters."
- Mindy Friddle, author of The Garden Angel

"Joshilyn Jackson looks deeply and with compassion at her characters and their stories...as a result, her people and her South come to life in all their complexity."
- Pam Durban,
Doris Betts Professor of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of So Far Back

"Joshilyn Jackson tells the searing tale of a young woman who faces her demons and finds her angels. gods in Alabama is a courageous debut from a talented new voice"
- Valerie Ann Leff, author of Better Homes and Husbands

"If you think Arlene Fleet, of Joshilyn's Jackson's riveting first novel, gods in Alabama, is just another displaced belle - full of angst and longing for her roots - think again. gods in Alabama is a roller-coaster of a book that takes the reader on a wild ride, right up until the end!"
- Rosemary Daniell, author of Fatal Flowers: On Sin, Sex and Suicide in the Deep South; Sleeping With Soldiers; and Confessions of a Female Chauvinist.