Tales from a Strange Southern Lady

by Jan Fink

Jan Fink's stories are drawn from her life experiences and the people she has met along the way. She allows her characters to channel their stories in their own voices. Stories that involve what it is to be human and capable of greed, hatred, brutality and even murder. Her characters take us through the struggles of the human capacity for good and evil, the capacity to love, human frailty, the burden of guilt and sin and realizing the dark side of their own nature. From Anna fleeing her eccentric Southern family, Olivia's childhood memoir, Damon Pierce's knowledge, John Love's quest for Clara Jean, Little Bill's Greenland to Pauley and Dylan's driving lesson, a mother's story of abuse, the long-winded George McNutt, Buzz the collector and Archie's question, they are each in their own way searching for meaning and freedom. "Tales from a Strange Southern Lady" is fashioned with sentences that artfully paint perfect pictures and a sharp, wicked sense of humor. At the same time they carry that sort of Southern innocence and naivete that makes the characters so likable and the bad ones so hateable.

Genres: Short Stories

282 pages, Paperback

First published August 12, 2014

About the author

Jan Fink is a Southern Gothic writer who has worked as a reporter, columnist, and feature writer. She writes about the South she loves, its people, and both the light and the dark sides of Southern life.

Reviews

[Espen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not easy making short stories that manage to pull you in and leave you satisfied at the end without feeling that something's lacking. Jan Fink delivers ten wonderful slices of life that bring out the entire spectrum of emotions from bliss to sadness, laughter to fury, despair to morbid amusement and then some. Highly recommended, both for her ability to identify with and feel for the characters and to enter the minds and hearts of an array of different personalities. And, not least, to tell stories that are both profound and entertaining within the space of relatively few pages. Easily one of the best collection of short stories I have ever read!

[Natalee Pfeifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I auditioned for and "won" the task of producing the audiobook for this glorious set of short stories in late June. Working with Jan and her publisher, reading through these EPIC tales and getting to know these VERY REAL characters, I fell completely in love. It has been some time since a short story has captured my attention so. I forgot about the task at hand and got lost in Jan's pages. These stories will make you laugh and cry but every one of them will leave you wondering...Do not miss this epic collection of short stories. The audiobook will be available by mid-August of 2017!

[Lori Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvelous vignettes about Alabama life and how life in general takes twists and turns. As I read, I felt as if I knew these people and was driven to find out what happened to each of them. Some characters I wanted to forget because Jan Fink's writing and character development was so vivid that I strongly disliked those characters. The same can be said for the characters I wanted to remember and delighted in getting to know through these short stories. Well done and I recommend highly.

[Virginia Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

To quote a character in this book "...the South is full of colorful, eccentric characters." The ten short stories in this book are full of a sampling of these Southern characters. I really admire an author who can write so convincingly in the first person and bring to life a wide variety of characters no matter their gender, age and background. Well done!

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each story sucks you in, the characters chew you up and some spit you out. The are wonderful slices of southern Americana. Anyone that enjoys darker side short stories will enjoy this book. Thanks to Goodreads First Reads for the opportunity to share some of Jan's life with me.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for such a great book

[Patrice Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing! Thank you Goodreads Giveaway! I can't tell you how interesting this book was! The last page just moved me so much. This book will go in my "favorites" category.

[Amy Holliday · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. I like short stories. I found myself not wanting to put the book down on some of the stories.
Thank you so much.