'Gone South" by Meg Moseley

Tish (short for Letitia) McComb lives in Michigan. She’s helps her mother move to Florida, and she decides to take a meandering way back through Noble, Alabama. She visited the town once with her father; the McComb family had strong ties there, with ancestors having lived there for a long time after the Civil War. 

During her visit, she encounters something unexpected – a rude reception from a few people. But she likes the town and discovers that the old McComb home is for sale. She makes an offer, it’s eventually accepted, and Tish finds herself moving.

 

What she encounters is hostility from most of the townspeople, and it’s because of her family’s history. The McComb legacy is one of people who came south after the Civil War as carpetbaggers, took advantage of people, and essentially pilfered and stole. Tish has old family letters that suggest a different story, but they don’t outright contradict the town’s memory and feelings. And the hostility is making it difficult for Tish to find a job.

 

Meg Moseley

So is her decision to offer a temporary home to Mel Hamilton a 20-year-old girl infamous for alleged theft from her own parents, getting in trouble generally, and essentially being homeless whenever she’s in town. A carpetbagger and a thief under the same roof! About the only person who’s friendly is George Zorbas, owner of an antique store, and he knows both the McComb legacy and Mel’s reputation.

 

Gone South by Meg Moseley is Tish McComb’s story. It’s officially classified as Christian fiction, but the faith-based element is downplayed. That said, it’s a clean story, without profanity or sexual situations. I enjoyed it, but feeling sympathy for the characters was a tough go until about halfway through the book. I also wanted to know more about both the old family letters and the McComb family history.

 

Moseley has previously published two novels, When Sparrows Fall and A Stillness of Chimes. She’s also contributed to several novella and story collections by different authors. A native Californian, she lives with her family near Atlanta. 

 

Some Thursday Readings

 

This – artwork by Sonja Benskin Mesher.

 

Genre Communicates a Contract with the Reader – Micaiah Johnson at CrimeReads.

 

Catholicism and Slavery: Setting the Record Straight – Samuel Gregg at Acton Institute.

 

“The Woman of Three Cows” by James Clarence Mangan – Justin Blessinger at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Union Lawyers Call Jewish Colleagues ‘Deranged’ and ‘Fascist’ – Francesca Block and Eli Lake at The Free Press.