Category Archives: 1990-1999

1990-1999

by | January 29, 2009

Jan Karon. At Home in Mitford. New York: Penguin, 1994.

Mitford, N.C.–”a town delightfully out of step with contemporary America”–is the home of Father Tim Kavanagh. Episcopalian rector Father Tim gives of himself to the point of exhaustion, but even in the midst of a town that loves him he is lonely. In steps a stray dog that responds to scripture (Father Tim names him Barnabas), an orphan named Dooley, and a new neighbor that wants to “go steady.” This is the first in Jan Karon’s series of books about Father Tim and the fictional village of Mitford.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 1990-1999, 1994, Karon, Jan, Mountains, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Religious/Inspirational

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by | January 23, 2009

Ann B. Ross. Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind. New York: William Morrow, 1999.

The very proper Julia Springer doesn’t believe in speaking ill of the dead, but her husband’s sudden demise leaves her in a difficult position. She finds out that her stingy husband of more than forty years was actually quite rich and, since there is no will, she inherits every penny of his money. However, her unexpected windfall brings out the worst in some of her small-town neighbors, including a pastor who tries to get the money by proving her legally incompetent. The widow also inherits something else unexpected: her husband’s illegitimate nine-year-old son. As if this weren’t enough to keep Julia busy, she also faces a strange televangelist, a robbery, and a kidnapping.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library Catalog.

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Filed under 1990-1999, 1999, Henderson, Humor, Mountains, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Ross, Ann B.

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by | January 21, 2009

Diana Gabaldon. Drums of Autumn. New York: Delacorte Press, 1997.

Although time-traveling Claire Fraser knows that the Revolution is coming, she and her husband Jamie decide to make a new life in the American colonies. They make their way from Charleston to Cumberland County, North Carolina, where Jamie’s wealthy aunt owns a plantation, and then eventually travel to the mountains where they begin setting up a community on the fictional Fraser’s Ridge. Their daughter, Brianna, is living in 1960s Boston, but she goes back in time to find her parents. Roger, her friend and would-be husband, follows her. This is the first book in the 2nd Outlander trilogy and the first of the series to take place in North Carolina.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 1990-1999, 1997, Coastal Plain, Cumberland, Gabaldon, Diana, Historical, Mountains, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Romance/Relationship, Science Fiction/Fantasy

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by | January 12, 2009

Roy E. Young. The Governor’s Prisoner. Fayetteville, NC: Old Mountain Press, 1999.

Even a good man can make a bad mistake.  When a drunken college student runs a stop sign and kills Wadus Strickland’s son, Strickland responds by beating the driver and his passenger with his son’s baseball bat.  The driver has political connections and Strickland doesn’t mount a defense, so he is sentenced to twenty six years in Central Prison. This is meant to be hard time, but Strickland’s personal disciple, open-mindedness, and wisdom help him navigate prison life.  He does well when he is assigned to work at the Governor’s mansion, and he becomes involved in the life of the governor and his family.  This is more than the story of one man’s redemption; it is a novel of how one person’s positive influence can reshape the lives of many people.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 1990-1999, 1999, Piedmont, Religious/Inspirational, Wake, Young, Roy E.

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by | January 12, 2009

Kathy Reichs. Death du Jour. New York: Scribner, 1999.

The second in Reich’s series of Temperence Brennan mysteries, Death du Jour opens with Tempe in Quebec looking for the remains of a long-dead nun…but the body is not where records say it should be. Then she discovers that a deadly house-fire was used to cover up multiple murders. A third addition to her caseload is the disappearance of a university teaching assistant. Tempe’s three investigations eventually begin to connect to one another and she travels to the North Carolina coast to try to find more answers.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 1990-1999, 1999, Coast, Mystery, Novels in Series, Reichs, Kathy

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by | November 7, 2008

Gloria Houston. Littlejim. Fairview, NC: Bright Mountain Books, 2008.

Littlejim wants nothing more than to earn the respect of his father, Bigjim. He is an excellent student, but his father does not see the value in school work and other such “tom-foolery.” Littlejim tries to prove himself in other ways, but he has no luck in demonstrating his worth to his father by working on his family’s farm or in his uncle’s sawmill. When an essay contest is announced, Littlejim decides to try to win both the contest and his father’s approval by writing about what it means to be an American. The people of his World War I-era Appalachian community provide the inspiration for his writing. Littlejim is based on the childhood of the author’s father and is the 2008 children’s focus novel for Western North Carolina’s Big Read Project, Together We Read. It has two sequels: Littlejim’s Dreams and Littlejim’s Gift: An Appalachian Christmas Story.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 1990, 1990-1999, Children & Young Adults, Coast, Historical, Houston, Gloria, Mountains

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by | August 19, 2008

Sarah Shaber. Simon Said. New York: St. Martin’s, 1997.

Professor Simon Shaw knows everything there is to know about Kenan College’s Bloodworth House–in fact, he literally wrote the book on the historic home. So, when a 50-year old corpse with a bullet-hole in its skull is uncovered during an archaeological dig on the house’s grounds, Shaw is asked to help identify the body. He believes that the body is that of an heiress who disappeared in 1926 and tries solve the murder with the help of an archaeologist and a police attorney. This novel is full of Raleigh history, but Shaw’s life also includes a number of modern-day details that may be familiar to locals, including going to a Durham Bulls game, eating at Raleigh’s Hillsborough Street IHOP, and researching in UNC’s own Southern Historical Collection.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 1990-1999, 1997, Mystery, Novels in Series, Piedmont, Shaber, Sarah, Wake

by | August 18, 2008

Katy Munger. Legwork. New York: Avon Books, 1997.

Casey Jones wants to be a private detective, but due to a felony conviction in the distant past she cannot get a license. Instead, she does the next best thing and works for a legitimate P.I., answering his phone, bodyguarding, and doing the legwork on some of his cases. In Legwork, the first novel in the Casey Jones series, Casey’s bodyguarding client is arrested for murdering a powerful and lecherous real estate developer. The arrestee is political candidate Mary Lee Masters–a “New Southern Woman” who could be the first female U.S. Senator from N.C–and she offers Casey twice her normal pay to find out who’s trying to frame her.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 1990-1999, 1997, Durham, Munger, Katy, Mystery, Novels in Series, Wake

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by | August 8, 2008

Donald Secreast. White Trash, Red Velvet. New York: HarperCollins, 1993.

Although it technically consists of short stories, White Trash, Red Velvet can be read as a novel. When taken as a whole, the book tells the story of Curtis and Adele Holsclaw, their three children, and their friends and relatives in the fictional town of Hibriten (likely based on Lenoir, NC). The first story takes place in 1952 and the other eleven follow the family and town through several decades of blue-collar southern life.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 1990-1999, 1993, Caldwell, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Seacrest, Donald

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by | August 6, 2008

Simmons Jones. Show Me the Way to Go Home. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1991.

The small town of Milford is home to a number of eccentrics, including a would-be actress; her drunken, estranged husband; their special-needs son; a woman who mentally gives herself titles like “The Foolish Virgin;” her ambitious, cheating husband; and observer and host Ned Trivett. This (often boozy) cast of characters is joined by an enigmatic hustler, a former resident who has returned as an Italian princess, and other visitors, all of whom bring significant changes to the residents lives and relationships.

Although there was a North Carolina community called “Millford” in Vance County in the 1800s, it has since disappeared and the coastal community in this novel is fictional.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 1990-1999, 1991, Coast, Jones, Simmons, Novels Set in Fictional Places