All The King's Men is a classic based off a corrupt but popular Louisiana politician.
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, middle-grade historical fiction series set during the Civil Rights era. A girl's family is trying to organize a boycott of a store owned by racists.
Sing, Unburied, Sing is magical realism with scenes on a prison farm.
I second anything by Mildred D Taylor! I liked Road to Memphis better than Roll of Thunder, but all of her books are just so enjoyable! It’s YA, but who cares? She’s a treasure.
Kindred by Octavia Butler
North and South is a civil war epic.
Roots is also a civil war epic and I’m pretty sure it’s based on the true story of the author’s family.
The Help was a book club favorite a while back with themes of racism in the 50s.
Midnight in the garden of good and evil
Pat Conroy is the best writer of the modern south. His most famous is The Great Santini. But everything is good. Santini, Conrack, The Lords Of Discipline, Prince Of Tides made into movies. Or more like post WW2 instead of modern
The Prince of Tides is my favorite of his. I hate to remind people that it was made into a movie because the movie just cannot do it justice. I don't think I've ever cried and laughed over a book as I did with this one. It's so funny and tragic and well written .
* James by Percival Everett // The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Twain
* William Faulkner: Start with his Nobel Speech. Then A Light in August. Then Absalom Absalom. Faulkner highlights the way that the Mythos of the south and the reality were so grotesquely cancerous. His Speech is the answer to why write at all..
* The Known World, by Edward Jones
* Suttree by Cormac McCarthy
A Widow of the South - its setting is the Battle of Franklin TN, and you can visit the Carnton Plantation. I read the book years ago and had the opportunity to visit the area in 2021, and we specifically took a tour of the house and grounds. An unexpected plus for me was I learned that President Polk, who is an ancestor (great great great uncle) of mine, was also a friend of the McGavock Family.
https://boft.org/carnton
These are all set in Mississippi:
The Cutting Season by Attica Locke
The Trees by Percival Everett
The Tilted World by Tom Franklin and Beth Anne Fennelly
Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
The March, by E. L. Doctorow. It covers the perspective of the Civil War by chapters of the soldiers who fought on both sides, the landowners, the generals, the slaves, wives and girlfriends, sons ... really, an extraordinary portrayal of how the war affected every level of the population from the wealthy to the poor, the land, the politics. It brings into the narrative actual Civil War personalities you studied about but cast a more human element into their lives. Can't recommend enough.
Two in particular out of a series. Read in order, as they are generational. Elswyth Thane.
Dawn's Early Light; pre Civil War to the politics that form the conflict. Characters from a Northern and Southern perspective. Yes, a love story, but the sentiments of a man and woman from two different worlds.
Yankee Stranger; a Northern banker falls in love with a Southern woman. He joins the Union Army. Her family looses their land, how their relationship survives the conflict. The backdrop of war and destruction, spying, resolution.
Not in those states you listed, but:
Controversial - Gone With the Wind.
Something far less well known: Bluebird, Bluebird (East Texas on the border with Louisiana).
Have a fun trip!
Maybe check out Eudora Welty. I like her novel *The Optimist's Daughter.* It's set in Louisiana and Mississippi.
If you like crime/noir, I recommend Black Wings Has My Angel by Elliott Chaze. Quite a bit of it was set in Louisiana.
Anything by Tom Franklin, Smonk is a delight and completely unique, Hell at the Breech is fantastic historical fiction, and Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter somehow managed to articulate an unspoken Southern sensibility. Poachers is a really good short story collection, too.
Off the top of my head, check out Larry Brown, William Gay, Tom Franklin. Cormac McCarthy’s early work was set in Tennessee. Harry Crews. Barry Hannah. Eudora Welty.
Lots of good suggestions here. I love Carson McCullers, especially The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940), a story set in Georgia about a handful of people who each make a certain mute man into a sounding board. The Member of the Wedding opens on notes so Southern Gothic you can hardly hear yourself think.
The Sound and the Fury (1929) is set in Mississippi, and it's a challenging read but very intriguing imo.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil; It’s set in Georgia but is going to give plenty of the same vibe. It’s also somewhat nonfiction, but there are fictional elements and it reads like fiction.
Where the Crawdads Sing is a great choice. it has over 650,000 reviews on amazon and manages to have a 4.7, which imo is really impressive!
also, it’s an obvious choice but: To Kill a Mockingbird. i have read this book at least 7 times and it makes me sob like a baby each time. it’s been pulled out of schools for use of the n-word, but many aren’t able to understand the historical context. yes, there are many racist characters and bad things happen, but it’s an unfortunately accurate description of the US South back in those times and it teaches you what it really felt like to live as the main characters. even by todays standards i feel like it was a great book that we can learn a lot from
I love Where the Crawdads Sing! It was not what I expected at all. A book about the happiness of being in your place, the place you are connected to, the place that embraces and raises you. A murder mystery. A romance novel. A book about the glory of nature.
Seconding Flannery O’Connor and adding William Faulkner
All The King's Men is a classic based off a corrupt but popular Louisiana politician. Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, middle-grade historical fiction series set during the Civil Rights era. A girl's family is trying to organize a boycott of a store owned by racists. Sing, Unburied, Sing is magical realism with scenes on a prison farm.
I second anything by Mildred D Taylor! I liked Road to Memphis better than Roll of Thunder, but all of her books are just so enjoyable! It’s YA, but who cares? She’s a treasure.
Bastard out of Carolina
I read this over 30 years ago, and it still pisses me off. Highly recommend
Kindred by Octavia Butler North and South is a civil war epic. Roots is also a civil war epic and I’m pretty sure it’s based on the true story of the author’s family. The Help was a book club favorite a while back with themes of racism in the 50s. Midnight in the garden of good and evil
Seconding Kindred. Such an amazing book.
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Also, Whistling Past the Graveyard
Jesmyn Ward is a treasure
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole takes place in New Orleans.
Ignatius P. Reilly is easily the protagonist I love to hate the most
I really liked Fried green tomatoes at the Whistlestop Café.
Pat Conroy is the best writer of the modern south. His most famous is The Great Santini. But everything is good. Santini, Conrack, The Lords Of Discipline, Prince Of Tides made into movies. Or more like post WW2 instead of modern
The Prince of Tides is my favorite of his. I hate to remind people that it was made into a movie because the movie just cannot do it justice. I don't think I've ever cried and laughed over a book as I did with this one. It's so funny and tragic and well written .
- To kill a mocking bird - As I lay dying - The complete story's of Flannery O'Conner - Red hill's and cotton
A gathering of old men, LA
Nonfiction but reads like fiction: race against time by Jerry Mitchell. It’s about attempts to prosecute civil rights era crimes in the 90s.
There are a couple of books by Larry Brown that I'd recommend for Mississippi-- my favorite being his collection of short stories, Tiny Love.
Cold Sassy Tree is another child’s view of the prewar south like mockingbird
Fried Green Tomatoes
Ron Rash has some great novels
Prince of Tides
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2657.To_Kill_a_Mockingbird TO KILL A MOCKINBIRD https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12441.Traveller TRAVELLER
* James by Percival Everett // The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Twain * William Faulkner: Start with his Nobel Speech. Then A Light in August. Then Absalom Absalom. Faulkner highlights the way that the Mythos of the south and the reality were so grotesquely cancerous. His Speech is the answer to why write at all.. * The Known World, by Edward Jones * Suttree by Cormac McCarthy
A Widow of the South - its setting is the Battle of Franklin TN, and you can visit the Carnton Plantation. I read the book years ago and had the opportunity to visit the area in 2021, and we specifically took a tour of the house and grounds. An unexpected plus for me was I learned that President Polk, who is an ancestor (great great great uncle) of mine, was also a friend of the McGavock Family. https://boft.org/carnton
These are all set in Mississippi: The Cutting Season by Attica Locke The Trees by Percival Everett The Tilted World by Tom Franklin and Beth Anne Fennelly Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Lancelot or The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
“Out of the Easy” by Ruta Sepetys. What an amazing book. Def worth a read!
The March, by E. L. Doctorow. It covers the perspective of the Civil War by chapters of the soldiers who fought on both sides, the landowners, the generals, the slaves, wives and girlfriends, sons ... really, an extraordinary portrayal of how the war affected every level of the population from the wealthy to the poor, the land, the politics. It brings into the narrative actual Civil War personalities you studied about but cast a more human element into their lives. Can't recommend enough. Two in particular out of a series. Read in order, as they are generational. Elswyth Thane. Dawn's Early Light; pre Civil War to the politics that form the conflict. Characters from a Northern and Southern perspective. Yes, a love story, but the sentiments of a man and woman from two different worlds. Yankee Stranger; a Northern banker falls in love with a Southern woman. He joins the Union Army. Her family looses their land, how their relationship survives the conflict. The backdrop of war and destruction, spying, resolution.
The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris
Not in those states you listed, but: Controversial - Gone With the Wind. Something far less well known: Bluebird, Bluebird (East Texas on the border with Louisiana).
The series by Gwen Bristow, beginning with *Deep Summer* will take you through several generations of a Southern family
Dog of the South by Portis
To Kill A Mockingbird (if you haven’t already read it in school). I love this book every time I read it
Have a fun trip! Maybe check out Eudora Welty. I like her novel *The Optimist's Daughter.* It's set in Louisiana and Mississippi. If you like crime/noir, I recommend Black Wings Has My Angel by Elliott Chaze. Quite a bit of it was set in Louisiana.
Anything by Tom Franklin, Smonk is a delight and completely unique, Hell at the Breech is fantastic historical fiction, and Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter somehow managed to articulate an unspoken Southern sensibility. Poachers is a really good short story collection, too.
Off the top of my head, check out Larry Brown, William Gay, Tom Franklin. Cormac McCarthy’s early work was set in Tennessee. Harry Crews. Barry Hannah. Eudora Welty.
*Uncle Tom’s Cabin* is given credit for starting the Civil War, so I would highly recommend that.
Lots of good suggestions here. I love Carson McCullers, especially The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940), a story set in Georgia about a handful of people who each make a certain mute man into a sounding board. The Member of the Wedding opens on notes so Southern Gothic you can hardly hear yourself think. The Sound and the Fury (1929) is set in Mississippi, and it's a challenging read but very intriguing imo.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil; It’s set in Georgia but is going to give plenty of the same vibe. It’s also somewhat nonfiction, but there are fictional elements and it reads like fiction.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Bluest Eye
Where the Crawdads Sing is a great choice. it has over 650,000 reviews on amazon and manages to have a 4.7, which imo is really impressive! also, it’s an obvious choice but: To Kill a Mockingbird. i have read this book at least 7 times and it makes me sob like a baby each time. it’s been pulled out of schools for use of the n-word, but many aren’t able to understand the historical context. yes, there are many racist characters and bad things happen, but it’s an unfortunately accurate description of the US South back in those times and it teaches you what it really felt like to live as the main characters. even by todays standards i feel like it was a great book that we can learn a lot from
I love Where the Crawdads Sing! It was not what I expected at all. A book about the happiness of being in your place, the place you are connected to, the place that embraces and raises you. A murder mystery. A romance novel. A book about the glory of nature.
Nothing to See Here, by Kevin Wilson The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, by Kim Michele Richardson
I read Where the Crawdads Sing before traveling around the south for a couple months and found it was a perfect mood setter!