Review: The Tilted World

The Tilted World by Tom Franklin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Beautifully written with prose that made me feel the rain, hear the gunshots, taste the moonshine.

I love Dixie Clay's spirit. She married -- way too young -- a man who was handsome, charming, and well-to-do. But things aren't exactly what they seem with Jessie. At one point, after she learns he's a successful moonshiner, she talks him into letting her help him with the business. And she's very good at it.

But the revenuers are after Jessie. Ham and Ingersoll are both very likable and quirky.

Dixie Clay, who lost a baby of her own, ends up with someone else's baby. That whole series of events is sad, lovely, funny, and heart-wrenching all at the same time.

All of this is set against the backdrop of the Mississippi River flood of 1927. Parallels can be made with Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Maria because of the devastation they caused and the government response.

Co-author Beth Ann Fennelly (Franklin's wife) was in our town last night reading from this book and others. She is delightful and told us why "Collin" is the name of one of the characters who dies in this book. She said a "Collin" dies in each of Franklin's books because Beth Ann's last boyfriend before she met him was named Collin.

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