Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    My Summer of Southern Discomfort: A Novel
    Unavailable
    My Summer of Southern Discomfort: A Novel
    Unavailable
    My Summer of Southern Discomfort: A Novel
    Ebook294 pages3 hours

    My Summer of Southern Discomfort: A Novel

    By Stephanie Gayle

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    Listen to the audiobook instead

    About this ebook

    Today is Monday. The calls do not come as before. Weeks elapse between them, and when I answer the phone there is no overlap of voices, only my mother's. She spends much of the conversation avoiding mention of the pink elephant trumpeting in the middle of the room.

    The pink elephant would be my defection to Georgia. When I telephoned with the news of my imminent relocation my father asked, "Georgia, as in the Republic of Georgia by the Black Sea, or Georgia as in the Peach State?" He hoped I meant the former because that Georgia promised unique opportunities to advance the democratic cause of justice. What could Georgia, former land of the Confederacy, offer?

    Convicting arsonists and thieves in Macon, Georgia, was never Harvard Law grad Natalie Goldberg's dream. The pay is abysmal, the work is exhausting, and the humidity is hell for a woman with curly hair. But when a steamy romance with her high-powered New York boss went bad, Natalie jumped at the first job offered, packed her bags, and headed south.

    Natalie's leftist Yankee background brands her a conspicuous outsider in this insular community. Her father, a famous civil rights lawyer, refuses to accept her career change—or talk to her. Her best friend begs her to come back home, and Natalie keeps thinking she sees her former lover everywhere.

    But Natalie's not completely alone. There are a garden-obsessed neighbor, a former beauty queen–turned–defense attorney, and a handsome colleague who has a nervous tic whenever she gets near. And then there's a capital case that has her eating antacids by the truckload.

    Yep, it's going to be one heckuva long, hot summer. . . .

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 13, 2009
    ISBN9780061865695
    Author

    Stephanie Gayle

    Stephanie Gayle's work has appeared in the literary magazines 400 Words, The Charles River Review, Edgar Literary Journal, Ellipsis, and The Fourth River. Her story ""Interior Design"" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

    Related to My Summer of Southern Discomfort

    Related ebooks

    Legal For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      All Of Us Here

      Jun 4, 2020

      All Of Us Here
      6 min read

    • Article

      Summer Thrills

      Aug 5, 2019

      Summer Thrills
      3 min read

    • Article

      Paltry Gestures

      Jan 5, 2021

      Paltry Gestures
      6 min read

    • Article

      Warmhearted ‘All The Lonely People’ Strikes At Isolation

      Sep 21, 2021

      Novelist Mike Gayle’s protagonist, an older Jamaican immigrant in England, steps out of his solitude and onto a path of friendship.

      3 min read

    • Article

      March Fiction

      Feb 15, 2022

      Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson (Century, £20) In 2018 the ever-prolific James Patterson got together with Bill Clinton to write the best-selling The President Is Missing: a novel that combined Clinton’s insider knowledge with Patter

      2 min read

    • Article

      Top 10 Books

      Jun 16, 2023

      Top 10 Books
      1 min read

    • Article

      ‘I Was A Bad Child Actor. Extremely Bad’: Emma Cline On The Follow Up To Her Hit Novel The Girls

      May 13, 2023

      Emma Cline is a writer who seemed to hit her stride straight out of the gate. Her bestselling 2016 debut The Girls, which told the story of a Manson family-type cult, was praised for its canny structure, moving seamlessly between time frames, and for

      8 min read

    • Article

      Ride Of Passage

      May 17, 2021

      Ride Of Passage
      5 min read

    • Article

      We All Live in Uncertain

      Jul 30, 2020

      “Think of Caddo as a maze of lakes within lakes,” says John Winn, proprietor of Caddo Outback Tours, as the two of us settle into a small Go-Devil boat roped to a dock in Uncertain, on the border of northern Louisiana. For two decades, Winn has given

      6 min read

    • Article

      March’s BOOK CLUB

      Feb 2, 2023

      Other Women by Emma Flint (£16.99, HB, Pan Macmillan) Bea Cade can’t resist the charms of Tom Ryan. Any time the attractive and enigmatic salesman visits the offices where Bea works she goes weak at the knees. But Tom is married to Kate. While it’s

      4 min read

    • Article

      Musings On My Father

      Aug 8, 2022

      Musings On My Father
      5 min read

    • Article

      This One So Loved

      May 9, 2019

      This One So Loved
      9 min read

    • Article

      Mary-kate’s Empty House

      May 22, 2020

      Mary-kate’s Empty House
      4 min read

    • Article

      Finding Peace—and Briefly, Freedom—at My Grandfather’s Funeral

      Oct 11, 2019

      “Saying goodbye with the people who loved him—and me—I remember that I am not the tomb that imprisons me.”

      6 min read

    • Article

      Kids & Angels

      Jun 25, 2022

      Kids & Angels
      4 min read

    • Article

      Balancing Act: In 'Mrs. Everything,' Jennifer Weiner Explores Her Mom's Sexuality, Evolving Gender Roles And Donald Trump's America. Is It A Beach Read? Maybe!

      Jun 17, 2019

      Jennifer Weiner, New York Times bestselling author of 16 juicy, layered, courageous books, always knew she wanted to write a novel that followed her characters from birth to death. She knew she wanted that book to be loosely based on her own life and

      4 min read

    • Article

      For The Love Of Christmas

      Nov 3, 2020

      For The Love Of Christmas
      2 min read

    • Article

      Family-Focused Farmhouse

      Nov 9, 2021

      Family-Focused Farmhouse
      2 min read

    • Article

      All In The Family

      Nov 1, 2022

      All In The Family
      2 min read

    • Article

      THE Total Girl BOOK CLUB

      May 10, 2020

      We received so many fantastic reviews! Introducing our first lucky winner: here’s what TG reader Sasha had to say about the new book by Jacqueline Harvey! Kensy and Max 5: Freefall. I thought the book was great. Jacqueline Harvey is such an amazing

      1 min read

    • Article

      Ask Old House Journal

      Apr 12, 2022

      Ask Old House Journal
      2 min read

    • Article

      Friend Or Foe?

      Aug 24, 2023

      Sitting on the grass beside my girlfriend Grace, I spotted a familiar face approaching from across the park. ‘Can I join you?’ Chelsea, then 17, smiled, plonking herself down. It was March 2018 and I’d been with Grace, then 16, for six months. I was

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for My Summer of Southern Discomfort

    3/5

    25 ratings4 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      The plot of the book was okay. Nothing was ever explored really, it was like reading a very bad journal, where things are listed, but nothing delved into. I seriously didn't get the point. I gave it two stars because I finshed it, and what little character development there was, I liked.
    • 5/5
      I had to vindicate this book's honor because I saw the mediocre reviews on LibraryThing, but I really enjoyed it. I used to practice law and hated it, but this book made me want to practice criminal law. The trial at the center of the story was fascinating, and it was easy to root for the protagonist. She never made a misstep (while prosecuting the trial, anyway). There is also a bit of doomed romantic backstory and a hint of new romance, but overall the book is much "deeper" than the fluffy cover implies.
    • 2/5
      This book just seemed like it had no plot. Though it was short, it was difficult to get through because it had no direction. It is also awkwardly written and does not flow at all. The secondary characters are difficult to understand and sympathize with. One good thing is her descriptions of the South are spot on and enjoyable.
    • 2/5
      This book was pretty dull. It's sort of chick lit on a less "brainless" level since the main character is a lawyer. Really, the plot line drug on forever and the whole thing was just a little bland, with a very dull ending to match the entire book. I'd give it a "blah".