MY REVIEW:

Tish McComb grew up hearing wonderful stories told by her father about her great-great-great-grandmother Letitia and the ancestral home in Noble, Alabama. As Letitia’s namesake, Tish takes a detour home from Florida through Noble when she learns the house is for sale just for the chance to see inside. On a whim, Tish decides to purchase the house and soon finds herself resigning her job and moving from Michigan to the south where she is surprised to learn that the McComb name is not exactly favored in her new home. Tish runs across Melanie, a young homeless woman whose family has given up on and decides to share the house with her until she can get on her feet. George Zorbas makes frequent appearances as he chases down his deceased mother’s dog who can’t seem to remember that she no longer lives in Tish’s house. Everyone in town believes Melanie is a thief so Tish as two strikes against her for being a McComb and sheltering Melanie.

“Gone South” is a wonderful story with unique and sometimes quirky characters who soon won my heart. Tish is strong but after moving around her entire life, she wants a place she can call home. Melanie knows that she has messed up more times than she can count but desperately wants to do what is right and clear her tarnished name. George is a good guy, confident and caring and who becomes much more involved in Tish and Melanie’s lives than he ever intended.

The novel makes some strong points about how a person’s life can be affected by those who judge them without getting all the facts with Mel as a prime example. Some emphasis was placed on the faith of certain characters but it was not heavy-handed. I enjoyed watching the personal growth of the characters, especially Mel and was glad when some people realized that they had been wrong about her all along. I would definitely recommend “Gone South” to all who enjoy contemporary fiction.

This book was provided for review by the Amazon Vine program.



ABOUT THE BOOK:
Gone SouthThe charm of the South drew her back to her family’s roots. But when the town’s old resentments turn the sweet tea bitter, can Tish find a welcome anywhere?

Leaving frosty Michigan for the Deep South was never a blip in the simple plans Tish McComb imagined for her life, dreams of marriage and family that were dashed five years earlier in a tragic accident. Now an opportunity to buy her great-great-great-grandparents’ Civil War era home beckons Tish to Noble, Alabama, a Southern town in every sense of the word. She wonders if God has given her a new dream— the old house filled with friends, her vintage percolator bubbling on the sideboard.

When Tish discovers that McCombs aren’t welcome in town, she feels like a Yankee behind enemy lines. Only local antiques dealer George Zorbas seems willing to give her a chance. What’s a lonely outcast to do but take in Noble’s resident prodigal, Melanie Hamilton, and hope that the two can find some much needed acceptance in each other.

Problem is, old habits die hard, and Mel is quite set in her destructive ways. With Melanie blocked from going home, Tish must try to manage her incorrigible houseguest as she attempts to prove her own worth in a town that seems to have forgotten that every sinner needs God-given mercy, love and forgiveness.

Click here to download chapter one of Gone South.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Meg Moseley

Meg Moseley is still a Californian at heart although she’s lived more than half her life in other states. Holding jobs that ranged from candle-maker to administrative assistant, Meg eventually contributed human-interest pieces for a suburban edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Contemporary fiction remains her real love, and she’s the author of When Sparrows Fall and Gone South. She lives in Atlanta near the foothills of the Southern Appalachians with her husband.