In The Last Fire-Eater, renowned historian of the American South William A. Link examines the life of Roger A. Pryor, a Virginia secessionist, Confederate general, and earnest proponent of postwar sectional reconciliation whose life involved a series of remarkable transformations. Pryor’s journey, Link reveals, mirrored that of the South. At times, both proved puzzling and contradictory. Pryor recast himself during a crucial period in southern history between the 1850s and the close of the nineteenth century. An archetypical southern-rights advocate, Pryor became a skilled practitioner in the politics of honor. As a politician and newspaper editor, he engaged in duels and viewed the world through the cultural prism of southern honor, assuming a more militant and aggressive stance on slavery than most of his regional peers. Later, he served in the Confederate army during the Civil War, rising to the rank of brigadier general and seeing action across the Eastern Theater. Captured late in the conflict, Pryor soon after abandoned his fiery persona and renounced extremism. He then moved to New York City, where he emerged as a prominent lawyer and supporter of the sort of intersectional detente that stood as a central facet of what southern boosters labeled the “New South.” Dramatic change characterized Pryor’s long life. Born in 1828, he died four months after the end of World War I. He witnessed fundamental shifts in the South that included the destruction of slavery, the defeat of the Confederacy, and the redefinition of manhood and honor among elite white men who relied less on violence to resolve personal grievances. With Pryor’s lifetime of remakings as its focus, The Last Fire-Eater serves as a masterful history of transformation in the South.

Bobby Burns knows he’s a lucky lad. Growing up in sleepy Keely Bay, Bobby is exposed to all manner of wondrous things: stars reflecting off the icy sea, a friend that can heal injured fawns with her dreams, a man who can eat fire. But darkness seems to be approaching Bobby’s life from all sides. Bobby’s new school is a cold, cruel place. His father is suffering from a mysterious illness that threatens to tear his family apart. And the USA and USSR are testing nuclear missiles and creeping closer and closer to a world-engulfing war. Together with his wonder-working friend, Ailsa Spink, and the fire-eating illusionist McNulty, Bobby will learn to believe in miracles that will save the people and place he loves.

Rhett first raised the possibility of secession in 1826, well before Calhoun adopted the notion, and would ever after hold fast to his one great idea. In this examination of Rhett's personal and political endeavors, Davis draws upon many newly found sources to reveal the extremism that would make and mar Rhett's adult life."--BOOK JACKET.

Despite the fact that it's forbidden, Cadi Forbes is determined to find the sin eater after her grandmother's death

Surreal, playful, and always poignant, the prose poems in Jose Hernandez Diaz’s masterful debut chapbook introduce us to a mime, a skeleton, and the man in the Pink Floyd t-shirt, all of whom explore their inner selves in Hernandez Diaz’s startling and spare style. With nods to Russell Edson and the surrealists, Hernandez Diaz explores the ordinary and the not-so-ordinary occurrences of life, set against the backdrop of the moon, and the poet’s native Los Angeles. The TRP Chapbook Series

"I devoured this."—V. E. Schwab, New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue An International Bestseller An NPR Best Sci Fi, Fantasy, & Speculative Fiction Book of 2022 A Book Riot Best Book of 2022 A Vulture Best Fantasy Novel of 2022 A Goodreads Best Fantasy Choice Award Nominee A Library Journal Best Book of 2022 Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book's content after eating it. To them, spy novels are a peppery snack; romance novels are sweet and delicious. Eating a map can help them remember destinations, and children, when they misbehave, are forced to eat dry, musty pages from dictionaries. Devon is part of The Family, an old and reclusive clan of book eaters. Her brothers grow up feasting on stories of valor and adventure, and Devon—like all other book eater women—is raised on a carefully curated diet of fairy tales and cautionary stories. But real life doesn't always come with happy endings, as Devon learns when her son is born with a rare and darker kind of hunger—not for books, but for human minds. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

“For fans of The Handmaid’s Tale...a debut novel with a dark setting and an unforgettable heroine...is a riveting depiction of hard-won female empowerment” (The Washington Post). The Sin Eater walks among us, unseen, unheard Sins of our flesh become sins of Hers Following Her to the grave, unseen, unheard The Sin Eater Walks Among Us. For the crime of stealing bread, fourteen-year-old May receives a life sentence: she must become a Sin Eater—a shunned woman, brutally marked, whose fate is to hear the final confessions of the dying, eat ritual foods symbolizing their sins as a funeral rite, and thereby shoulder their transgressions to grant their souls access to heaven. Orphaned and friendless, apprenticed to an older Sin Eater who cannot speak to her, May must make her way in a dangerous and cruel world she barely understands. When a deer heart appears on the coffin of a royal governess who did not confess to the dreadful sin it represents, the older Sin Eater refuses to eat it. She is taken to prison, tortured, and killed. To avenge her death, May must find out who placed the deer heart on the coffin and why. “Very much reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale…it transcends its historical roots to give us a modern heroine” (Kirkus Reviews). “A novel as strange as it is captivating” (BuzzFeed), The Sin Eater “is a treat for fans of feminist speculative fiction” (Publishers Weekly) and “exactly what historical fiction lovers have unknowingly craved” (New York Journal of Books).

Sin Eater - A person who consumes a ritual meal in order to spiritually take on the sins of a deceased person. If only it were that simple.7 death row inmates. 7 sins to devour. Nelle Lockwood, one half of the nightmare detective agencies with her friend and mentor Buck McGraw, is given a most unusual request from the warden of a secretive prison: With Nelle as The Last Sin Eater, she is compelled to help absolve these evil people of their sins, but within the walls of the undersea tempestra prison lurks nightmarish creatures far beyond that of mere mortals... With Buck, Air Marshal Nestor Holden & his cocky corvid Edgar, Nelle must traverse uncomfortable conversations & hardships unlike anything she's ever faced. Author T. J. Lea's (THE EXPRESSIONLESS, NoSleep Podcast, Writers Mythos) "The Last Sin Eater" seeks to bridge the gap between Lovecraftian horror and dark fantasy, provoking difficult conversations, horrific creatures and spine tingling tension. As the inaugural novella in the expanding universe that makes up the collective first book: "Strangeness In Sturgeon: Echoes", what follows in successive novellas due out in 2021 is a blend of mystery, deep-seated horror ranging from the supernatural to the existential, a diverse set of characters and an immersion that makes you feel like you're within each of the unique locales and even more unique nightmares. There's more locked up in this prison than just inmates and Nelle will soon find out that some secrets are best left bounded... "Incredibly visceral, thought-provoking, and filled with unexpected twists, The Last Sin Eater by T. J. Lea is a masterfully written horror tale, although it's definitely not one for the faint of heart. Nelle is a strong and intriguing heroine who brings you along as she unlocks secrets about her past and the Church of the Duskwalkers while dealing with some of the most despicable inmates you'll ever meet." - USA Today bestselling author Angela Campbell.

"Will have readers tumbling through the pages . . . Deeply immersive, full of both heft and humor." —Soman Chainani, New York Times bestselling author of The School for Good and Evil series * "One of those special books that only comes around every so often . . . An absolute revelation." —SLJ (starred review) For fans of Nevermoor and Howl's Moving Castle comes an epic fantasy about a girl with the ability to unlock anything—including the empire's darkest secrets. Melanie Gate is a foundling with a peculiar talent for opening the unopenable—any lock releases at the touch of her hand. One night, her orphanage is visited by Traveler, a gearling automaton there on behalf of his magical mistress, who needs an apprentice pronto. When Melanie is selected because of her gift, her life changes in a flash, and in more ways than she knows—because Traveler is not at all what he seems. But then, neither is Melanie Gate. So begins an epic adventure sparkling with magic, wit, secret identities, stinky cats, fierce orphan girls, impostor boys, and a foundling and gearling hotly pursued by the most powerful and dangerous wizard in the land. Action-packed yet layered, The Lock-Eater is a mix of lush world-building, high stakes, humor, and emotional heft—a page-turner and so much more. "A new classic . . . Perfect for fans of Ursula LeGuin and Diana Wynne Jones." —Eliot Schrefer, author of The Lost Rainforest series * "Startlingly deep [while] maintaining its swift pace." —BCCB (starred review) "Will delight . . . An entertaining page-turner." —GeekMom “Incredibly memorable . . Vibrant [and] skillfully wrought.” —Betsy Bird for a Fuse #8 Production/SLJ "Inventive and lighthearted [yet still] plumbs areas of darkness and loss.” —The Horn Book “Expansive adventure, intricate worldbuilding, and a memorable cast [will] immerse readers.” —PW "A magical world unlike any other." —Cracking the Cover