All the Way to Memphis and Other Stories

by Suzanne Hudson

Suzanne Hudson's All the Way to Memphis is more than a collection of short stories; it is a trip. This collection's strength lies in its trajectory. It trespasses through the southern gothic but does not stall there. It continues on to create a map that transcends the confines of abusive family members and social hierarchies that have long stereotyped the South to arrive at a place familiar to all: the human heart.
Hudson drives the heart's terrain like a trucker. She possesses such skill that hope in each story is constantly lurking about, an unwritten character waiting to spring eternal. The language she employs to do her bidding becomes an accent that sits uncomfortably on the tongue, familiar but jarring. Young girl. Hitch hiker. Murderer. Librarian. And more. The voices combine, their levels rising in response to the noise within, and without.

Genres: Fiction

212 pages, Paperback

First published June 24, 2014

About the author

Suzanne Hudson is the author of two literary novels, In a Temple of Trees and In the Dark of the Moon. Her short fiction has been anthologized in almost a dozen books, including Stories from the Blue Moon Café and The Shoe Burnin’: Stories of Southern Soul. Her short story collection Opposable Thumbs was a finalist for a John Gardner Fiction Book Award. Her latest work of short stories, All the Way to Memphis, brings characters from the South to life in a way any reader will know and love. She lives with her husband, author Joe Formichella, near Fairhope, Alabama.

Reviews

[Bish Denham · Rating 5 out of 5]

The subject matter of most of these stories are tough and hard to read, but the writing is so good, so beautiful, that even though the stories are dark, they deserve every star I give them. They take place in the South in the 1950s and 60s, so they deal with race issues, poverty, segregation, and incest among some of the subjects touched on. There's humor too, as in the story, "The Fall of the Nixon Administration."

Each story drops you into a complete world, a place peopled with complete characters. I read them slowly, digesting each word, each sentence, each paragraph. They are gems, difficult subject matter or not, and worth savoring.