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Bells for Eli
First cousins Ellison Winfield and Adeline Green are meant to grow up happily and innocently across the street from one another amid the supposed wholesome values of small-town Green Branch, South Carolina, in the 1960s and 70s. But Eli's tragic accident changes the trajectory of their lives and of those connected to them. Shunned and even tortured by his peers for his disfigurement and frailty, Eli struggles for acceptance in childhood as Delia passionately defends him. Delia's narrative voice presents Eli as a confident young man in adolescence, but underneath he hides indelible wounds harboring pain and insecurity, scars that rule his impulses. And while Eli cherishes Delia and attempts to protect her from her own troubles, he cares not for protecting himself. In this compelling coming of age story, culture, family, friends, bullies, and lovers propel two young people to unite to guard each other in a world where love, hope, and connectedness ultimately triumph.
282 pages, Hardcover
First published March 2, 2020
25 people are currently reading
432 people want to read
About the author
Susan Beckham Zurenda
3 books108 followersSusan Beckham Zurenda taught English for 33 years on the college level and at the high school level to AP students. Her debut novel, Bells for Eli (Mercer University Press, March 2020; paperback edition March 2021), was selected the first place winner for Best First Book—Fiction in the 2021 IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Awards), a Foreword Indie Book Award finalist, a Winter 2020 Okra Pick by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, a 2020 Notable Indie on Shelf Unbound, a 2020 finalist for American Book Fest Best Book Awards, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for 2021. Susan has won numerous awards for her short fiction, including winning the South Carolina Fiction Prize twice. Her second novel, The Girl From the Red Rose Motel (Mercer University Press, September 2023), was the recipient of the 2024 Patricia Winn Award in Southern Fiction, Gold Medal winner in the 2024 IPPY Awards for Southeast Fiction, a 2024 Pushcart Prize nominee, a Shelf Unbound 2023 Notable 100 books, and a finalist in the American Book Fest Awards. Her upcoming novel, No Way Out but Through, is scheduled for publication in August 2026. The author lives in Spartanburg, SC. Learn more at www.susanzurenda.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
April 24, 2020
My mom has two sisters who each had a boy and girl. My female cousins and I grew up like the sisters our mothers are with a fierce bond still present today.
Bells for Eli is a coming-of-age story about two fiercely loyal cousins who grow up together. I don’t want to go into the plot too much because there is so much beauty here to explore.
Susan Beckham Zurenda’s writing is skillful, so much so you may think you are reading a classic. There’s tragedy for each of the cousins, and hope after the despair. I absolutely adored this emotional book and its authentic, lovable characters, and it was a reading experience I cherished.
If you are looking for a beautiful, heartrending book, definitely pick this one up. I’ll be first in line for the next book from this author!
I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
Bells for Eli is a coming-of-age story about two fiercely loyal cousins who grow up together. I don’t want to go into the plot too much because there is so much beauty here to explore.
Susan Beckham Zurenda’s writing is skillful, so much so you may think you are reading a classic. There’s tragedy for each of the cousins, and hope after the despair. I absolutely adored this emotional book and its authentic, lovable characters, and it was a reading experience I cherished.
If you are looking for a beautiful, heartrending book, definitely pick this one up. I’ll be first in line for the next book from this author!
I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
April 25, 2020
I love when a book has a creepy kind of beauty to it.
In trying to compose thoughts on Zurenda's writing style I kept coming back to the same description over and over and over again...
If William S. Burroughs and V.C. Andrews had a baby, but then said baby was raised by Jodi Picoult, I do believe this would result in creating Susan Beckham Zurenda.
Her writing has the brashness of Burroughs, Andrews deranged touch and the soft revelations I have come to love from Picoult.
Somehow she makes all that her own (I suspect witchcraft was involved).
This was a fantastic debut and I have my fingers crossed she writes more.
Much love to Susan Beckham Zurenda for my signed ARC!!!
In trying to compose thoughts on Zurenda's writing style I kept coming back to the same description over and over and over again...
If William S. Burroughs and V.C. Andrews had a baby, but then said baby was raised by Jodi Picoult, I do believe this would result in creating Susan Beckham Zurenda.
Her writing has the brashness of Burroughs, Andrews deranged touch and the soft revelations I have come to love from Picoult.
Somehow she makes all that her own (I suspect witchcraft was involved).
This was a fantastic debut and I have my fingers crossed she writes more.
Much love to Susan Beckham Zurenda for my signed ARC!!!
February 29, 2020
South Carolina author Susan Zurenda weaves a hauntingly beautiful tapestry of complex relationships and family secrets in her debut novel, BELLS FOR ELI. The Alabama Writers’ Conclave has honored Zurenda’s work in its annual contest, and now Bells for Eli enters the world as a finely crafted novel of southern literary fiction.
In 1959, three-year-old Eli Winfield has a horrible, preventable accident that leaves him permanently scarred--physically and emotionally. His cousin, Delia Green, or “Dee” as Eli affectionately calls her, devotes herself to defending and advocating for him in their hometown of Green Branch, South Carolina. Living across the street from each other, going to school together, and spending hours wandering the family farm, the cousins develop an extraordinarily close bond. Their extended family has secrets and difficult relationships, however, and several of the parent-child interactions hint at toxic behavior. Delia and Eli find solace from this tension at the country home of Mimi, Eli’s grandmother, with her comforting love and interest in genealogy; however, Delia and Eli witness a horrific event on Mimi’s land that impacts them forever.
Against the backdrop of the turbulent 60’s and 70’s, Delia and Eli navigate a rough course through high school and college. Eli increasingly tempts life with his daredevil attitude, and Delia drives herself crazy trying to pull her cousin back from his self-destructive tendencies. All the while, the secret they harbor overshadows everything they do and all the choices they make.
Susan Zurenda’s love of poetry shines through in this book, not only through her choice of evocative language, but also through her allusions, particularly to John Donne and his famous line “No man is an island….” Zurenda explores a deeper meaning of Donne’s message as it applies to Eli and Dee’s lives and finds hope in the line’s completion: all are “part of the main.” As Zurenda weaves in the final, satisfying threads of her detailed tapestry of Southern life and reveals the last family secret, the reader fully understands the stunning significance of the title BELLS FOR ELI.
In 1959, three-year-old Eli Winfield has a horrible, preventable accident that leaves him permanently scarred--physically and emotionally. His cousin, Delia Green, or “Dee” as Eli affectionately calls her, devotes herself to defending and advocating for him in their hometown of Green Branch, South Carolina. Living across the street from each other, going to school together, and spending hours wandering the family farm, the cousins develop an extraordinarily close bond. Their extended family has secrets and difficult relationships, however, and several of the parent-child interactions hint at toxic behavior. Delia and Eli find solace from this tension at the country home of Mimi, Eli’s grandmother, with her comforting love and interest in genealogy; however, Delia and Eli witness a horrific event on Mimi’s land that impacts them forever.
Against the backdrop of the turbulent 60’s and 70’s, Delia and Eli navigate a rough course through high school and college. Eli increasingly tempts life with his daredevil attitude, and Delia drives herself crazy trying to pull her cousin back from his self-destructive tendencies. All the while, the secret they harbor overshadows everything they do and all the choices they make.
Susan Zurenda’s love of poetry shines through in this book, not only through her choice of evocative language, but also through her allusions, particularly to John Donne and his famous line “No man is an island….” Zurenda explores a deeper meaning of Donne’s message as it applies to Eli and Dee’s lives and finds hope in the line’s completion: all are “part of the main.” As Zurenda weaves in the final, satisfying threads of her detailed tapestry of Southern life and reveals the last family secret, the reader fully understands the stunning significance of the title BELLS FOR ELI.
May 15, 2020
This beautifully written debut novel is Southern fiction at its best. I read a lot of Southern fiction and for some reason, I missed this one. It wasn't until I started reading rave reviews that I knew I needed to buy it and I'm really glad that I did. It's a lyrical novel and a coming of age story for two cousins in the South during some tumultuous times in the late part of the 20th century. The story begins in 1959 and ends in 1973.
As the novel begins in 1959, cousins Delia and Eli live across the street from each other in Green Branch, South Carolina. They are only seven months apart in age but at 3, they are already best friends. When Eli drinks some lye that had been stored in a Coke bottle, his life changes completely. He spent months in the hospital while the doctor's tried to save him. When he came home with a hole in his throat so he could breath and another hole in his stomach where he was fed, he could no longer be the active boy that he was before the accident. When school started, Eli was bullied by everyone - he couldn't run, he breathed funny and he smelled. Delia was his defender and kept him safe from the bullies. He wasn't physically harmed at school but the bullying effected his mind for the rest of his life. As a young man, his emotional scars caused him to become a daredevil. He continues to cherish Delia and to protect her from her own troubles, but has no concern for protecting himself. This attitude ruled his life through high school and when he started college. In turn, Delia tries to protect him from the harm caused by his impulsiveness.
This is a beautifully written story about love and friendship that lasts an entire life. The two main characters, Delia and Eli are so well written that they seem like people I knew back in my younger days. What is also nice is that all the supporting characters are well written - the friends, the parents, the grandmother which helps make this a perfectly delightful book. It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel. I am anxiously waiting to read her future books.
As the novel begins in 1959, cousins Delia and Eli live across the street from each other in Green Branch, South Carolina. They are only seven months apart in age but at 3, they are already best friends. When Eli drinks some lye that had been stored in a Coke bottle, his life changes completely. He spent months in the hospital while the doctor's tried to save him. When he came home with a hole in his throat so he could breath and another hole in his stomach where he was fed, he could no longer be the active boy that he was before the accident. When school started, Eli was bullied by everyone - he couldn't run, he breathed funny and he smelled. Delia was his defender and kept him safe from the bullies. He wasn't physically harmed at school but the bullying effected his mind for the rest of his life. As a young man, his emotional scars caused him to become a daredevil. He continues to cherish Delia and to protect her from her own troubles, but has no concern for protecting himself. This attitude ruled his life through high school and when he started college. In turn, Delia tries to protect him from the harm caused by his impulsiveness.
This is a beautifully written story about love and friendship that lasts an entire life. The two main characters, Delia and Eli are so well written that they seem like people I knew back in my younger days. What is also nice is that all the supporting characters are well written - the friends, the parents, the grandmother which helps make this a perfectly delightful book. It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel. I am anxiously waiting to read her future books.
July 2, 2020
Fabulous rollercoaster of emotions!
Wow! Susan Zurenda knocked it out of the park! I loved every bit of this book! Spanning two decades of the lives of close cousins, this book has so many twists and turns that you won't be able to out it down!
Wow! Susan Zurenda knocked it out of the park! I loved every bit of this book! Spanning two decades of the lives of close cousins, this book has so many twists and turns that you won't be able to out it down!
May 4, 2022
4.5 rounding up. This is a sweet coming of age novel based in SC in 1959 - 1978. The characters were well developed and felt believable. Susan Beckham Zurenda is speaking tomorrow night at my local bookstore and I am looking forward to hearing her thoughts and inspirations.
February 24, 2020
A beautiful book!
Read
July 7, 2024This book in my opinion is a "A Better Low Country Version of A Little Life". I am not implying in any way that this book was ripped, in fact I believe Susan captured Eli and Dee's tragic coming of age story in a beautiful and captivating way. The depth of the characters made me ache for Eli and cheer for Dee. Never have two characters been devloped so much. This is a rich story that is meant to be read numerous times to pick up on all the depth in the story, language and themes.
My only regret for reading this book was that I read it alone, this is a book meant to discuss with others! It would make a lovely. book club selection.
I would love to sit down and have a cup of coffee with Susan BZ and hear her describe this book and what made her put pen to page.
My only regret for reading this book was that I read it alone, this is a book meant to discuss with others! It would make a lovely. book club selection.
I would love to sit down and have a cup of coffee with Susan BZ and hear her describe this book and what made her put pen to page.
January 20, 2020
Few novels succeed in stirring so much emotion within me that I cry, but when they do, I am always in awe.
Bells for Eli is a coming-of-age story, wrapped in a family drama, riding on an undercurrent of forbidden romance. While coming-of-age novels are not typically my go-to genre, I am grateful that Susan Beckham Zurenda entrusted an advance copy of her debut to me for review because it shook me to my core.
Zurenda is a former high school and college English teacher and current book publicist and it shows. The writing in this debut is absolutely stunning. It's eloquent and sophisticated, yet easy to read and Zurenda still manages to make her characters' language believable at every age.
Part of me is a bit conflicted because I am not a fan of the type of forbidden romance in this book; it left me feeling a bit squeamish and uncomfortable. However, the love exuded from these characters on such a deeper level, the vulnerability of emotion, and the grace with which Zurenda handles mature and uncomfortable themes is unmatched.
The tone of this book is incredibly serious and heavy. I left it feeling sad, yet hopeful at the same time. Bells For Eli follows two young cousins, growing up together, facing the cruelties of the world, as Eli battles ridicule for health issues beyond his control, later growing to struggle with addiction and depression.
Zurenda's writing is intricate, empathetic, and exploratory and I am here for all of that. This is a gorgeous debut and not to be ignored!
Thank you to Susan Beckham Zurenda and Mercer University Press for the advanced copy and entrusting me to review!
TW: Sexual assault, hints of incest, addiction, mental health issues, death, racism
Bells for Eli is a coming-of-age story, wrapped in a family drama, riding on an undercurrent of forbidden romance. While coming-of-age novels are not typically my go-to genre, I am grateful that Susan Beckham Zurenda entrusted an advance copy of her debut to me for review because it shook me to my core.
Zurenda is a former high school and college English teacher and current book publicist and it shows. The writing in this debut is absolutely stunning. It's eloquent and sophisticated, yet easy to read and Zurenda still manages to make her characters' language believable at every age.
Part of me is a bit conflicted because I am not a fan of the type of forbidden romance in this book; it left me feeling a bit squeamish and uncomfortable. However, the love exuded from these characters on such a deeper level, the vulnerability of emotion, and the grace with which Zurenda handles mature and uncomfortable themes is unmatched.
The tone of this book is incredibly serious and heavy. I left it feeling sad, yet hopeful at the same time. Bells For Eli follows two young cousins, growing up together, facing the cruelties of the world, as Eli battles ridicule for health issues beyond his control, later growing to struggle with addiction and depression.
Zurenda's writing is intricate, empathetic, and exploratory and I am here for all of that. This is a gorgeous debut and not to be ignored!
Thank you to Susan Beckham Zurenda and Mercer University Press for the advanced copy and entrusting me to review!
TW: Sexual assault, hints of incest, addiction, mental health issues, death, racism
April 8, 2020
Bells for Eli is a captivating coming of age novel that tackles subjects like bullying, forbidden romance, love, and acceptance. This is Susan's debut novel and it reminds me of V.C. Andrews writing style. The story is fascinating in its light and darkness.
The bond of two cousins, Delia and Eli, is at the center of the story. They grow up living right across with each other and we get to see a special bond blossom. The story deals with some real family and self-esteem issues. I think the way the author introduced each topic is done in a classy way that doesn't diminish the severity of each situation.
As Delia and Eli grow up their friendship turns into love. Now, this is where the forbidden romance comes to play. They are in love with each other but don't act on it for obvious reasons...although it does take a toll on them. As they begin to go off in the world and try to add some distance between each other, they seem to always find their way back.
A tragic accident changed Eli when he was younger and another tragic accident, later on, hurts Delia. To say these two have been through rough times would be an understatement. The real beauty is in the love and respect they share for one another. And the author makes it known that love is a powerful blessing.
I give Bells for Eli 4 stars. It is genuine and authentic to each character. I can't believe it is the author's debut novel because her writing style is impressive.
The bond of two cousins, Delia and Eli, is at the center of the story. They grow up living right across with each other and we get to see a special bond blossom. The story deals with some real family and self-esteem issues. I think the way the author introduced each topic is done in a classy way that doesn't diminish the severity of each situation.
As Delia and Eli grow up their friendship turns into love. Now, this is where the forbidden romance comes to play. They are in love with each other but don't act on it for obvious reasons...although it does take a toll on them. As they begin to go off in the world and try to add some distance between each other, they seem to always find their way back.
A tragic accident changed Eli when he was younger and another tragic accident, later on, hurts Delia. To say these two have been through rough times would be an understatement. The real beauty is in the love and respect they share for one another. And the author makes it known that love is a powerful blessing.
I give Bells for Eli 4 stars. It is genuine and authentic to each character. I can't believe it is the author's debut novel because her writing style is impressive.
July 19, 2020
In “Bells For Eli”, Zurenda delivers a poignant, unforgettable coming-of-age story and what should be a serious contender for best debut novel.
We meet cousins, Eli and Delia (Dee) when they are just 3 years old. It is at this time that Eli is critically injured in an accident at home. Interestingly, the author said the seed of this idea came from a similar life-changing event that occurred in her family, adding that all else in this book is fiction.
Set in rural South Carolina during the 1960s and 1970s, Eli and Delia live across the street from each other. From the time they are babies, they are the best of friends, doing everything together, looking out for each other.
Eli’s recovery from injuries sustained in the accident is long and difficult, with scars and ongoing difficulties he must deal with every day. Delia, ever cognizant of Eli and his moods, is like a “mother hen”, trying to protect Eli as they grow older and he begins to take chances and behave recklessly.
Only recently released, “Bells For Eli” is garnering high praise from some of South Carolina’s best-known writers including Mary Alice Monroe, who said: “…Bells for Eli is a consummate story of determination and love prevailing in a world where cruelty and exclusion threaten to dominate. Stories of the heart don’t get any better than this.”
There is much more to this story than I have touched on here, so go to your favorite book store now and get a copy. I highly recommend it.
July 19, 2021
Bells for Eli opens in a hot cemetery in a sleepy South Carolina town. The narrator Delia hints at a terrible loss that has derailed her college plans. From there, her story goes back in time. She describes her cousin Eli's horrific childhood accident, its aftermath, and the beginning of their friendship. Author Susan Beckham Zurenda leads the reader into the private and sometimes harrowing spaces of childhood, the secrets and challenges of adolescence, and the yearnings and emotional complexities of young adulthood. There's a mixture of sweetness and darkness that makes Delia and Eli's world feel absolutely real, its passions and pains close to the bone. Unforgettable characters and a haunting, poignant story.
April 9, 2020
Bells for Eli reminds me of all the reasons I love southern fiction. It's reminiscent of Eudora Welty, Dotty Benton Frank, and a little Flannery O'Connor. I truly could not put this novel down. Sometimes, with the best books, I just want to tell readers to skip the blurbs and the pithy plot summaries on the book jackets and READ. I will say that there are cousins, old houses, school lessons and life lessons, good parents and bad parents, rites of passage, and cemeteries, which I love. And music. A wonderful read in every way!
September 14, 2021
I enjoyed reading Bells for Eli and highly recommend it! It is well written, structured and well thought out. The characters are interesting as well as the twists and turns that happen along the way.
Looking forward to Ms Zurenda's next book!
Looking forward to Ms Zurenda's next book!
August 3, 2020
There are some books that you enjoy so much when you near the end you sort of panic and force yourself to stop reading. Thirty pages towards the end of Susan Zurenda’s novel, Bells for Eli, I had such a moment and deliberately set the novel on my nightstand to take up the next day. I don’t often pace myself or even cut myself off for the mere pleasure of extending a good read, but I did so with Bells for Eli.
Bells for Eli is told by an older Adeline, called Delia, reflecting on her years growing up with her first cousin, Eli. More than just a first cousin, he is her neighbor, her best friend, her true (and forbidden) love. Bells for Eli begins in August 1978 and flashes back to 1959 when Eli drinks lye, permanently damaging his esophagus. He undergoes surgeries and extremely painful procedures, and as a young child is unable to even eat—his mother grinds up food and inserts it into his stomach—and then moves forward as Delia and Eli grow up. The narrative has a dreamy quality, beginning with the prologue when Delia falls asleep in the cemetery, wakes up to the Green Branch town clock’s bells chiming, then contemplates herself and Eli while walking home. From the prologue forward, you are on edge waiting for the other shoe to drop. During scenes when Eli drives his new Camaro on Christmas day or when he climbs the bell clock tower, I held my breath. A handsome and reckless young man in adolescence, Eli falls in love and tries desperately to replace Delia with another version of her in Isabel. Despite his tragic accident, Bells for Eli is a celebration of Eli’s life.
The novel’s point of view—told from the point-of-view of first-person observer and protagonist, Delia Green—resembles the point-of-view in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald—I will say I consulted Writing Fiction by Janet Burroway and mulled point-of-view over, wondering if this was a hybrid between first-person central and first-person peripheral. Is that possible? Who is this story about? It belongs to both Delia and Eli. Notice the similarity between their names. Is that coincidental? I don’t think so. I think the bells ring for both characters; they are both central to the story. They both suffer, learn, and love equally, but yes, the “I,” or the first-person narrator retelling this story is Delia, and she is the clear protagonist. Eli’s surgeries, the pain, being an outsider throughout his childhood all shape his life, but these events also equally shape Delia’s life. This point-of-view is tricky and masterful on Zurenda’s part. I seriously pondered it, wondered about the choice, and then considered how the point of view creates empathy. Sympathy and empathy are different creatures. This book is about empathy. If Eli told the story, we could commiserate with him, but only to a point, especially if he constantly complained about pain. Having that distance from the actual pain creates a sense of empathy which defines both Delia’s and Eli’s character. Ultimately, this choice in narration works because there is enough distance from Eli so that the narrator doesn’t become whiny; rather, Delia learns and changes and at the same time the reader learns and changes.
The story is a reflection from an older narrator, but when Delia recounts being four-years-old or sixteen-years-old, or whatever age, the voice, imagery, the setting, the dialogue, the action is captured from the perception of that age and time. This is difficult to pull off and shows a level of control not all authors possess. It’s tempting and much easier to speak in the narrator’s current voice. In Bells for Eli, you forget, as a reader, the “I” here is the older Delia and feel like you are experiencing what she felt at age four, at age sixteen, and the narrative supports it via historical and/or cultural references—some of them quite humorous. Though the novel has its tragic moments, it’s imbued with amusing anecdotes that rocketed me straight back into my own childhood and teenage years. I had a vivid sensation of being a child and standing before a rack of Barbie clothes encased in plastic with pure want coursing through my veins when Delia’s friend Gloria boasts about her Barbie’s Executive Career outfit. Zurenda takes you back to a place in time with references to Dark Shadows (a vampire soap opera my own mother watched), Delia’s Ziggy tee-shirt, or Delia and Eli being “placed in the red group, the top group” after reading from “Friends Old and New, Dick and Jane readers.” Oh, I recall this same process in grade school! In addition, some of my very favorite images are from the viewpoint of a very young Delia, describing Uncle Gene’s eyebrows as “caterpillars,” or imagining the white flowers of Mimi’s magnolia trees as popcorn. Thinking like a child, a teenager, a young adult and making the dialogue or imagery realistic for the age while maintaining the narrator’s voice is no small feat.
Now onto bells. Bells, bells, and more bells. As the title suggests, you need to pay attention to bells. One of my favorite literary devices is the symbol. Most organized religions use bells in rituals or services; some say the sound of a bell is the voice of God. Ringing bells are used to warn, as alarms to wake us, to honor people, to celebrate, to announce someone’s arrival, to ward off evil spirits. I could go on and on. Each time a bell appears in Bells for Eli, whether it is the clock bell tower in Green Branch or the doorbell at Magnolia Manor, new levels of meaning surface, and I was reminded of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. Woolf’s chiming Big Ben and Zurenda’s bells have the effect of deliberately jarring the reader from the narrative. Woolf is reminding us that time is not linear. We live in the past, present, and future. We live in our heads, like Mrs. Dalloway; likewise, we relive Delia’s past, connecting it to her present, and ultimately the bells reinforce the fluidity of time with no beginning, middle, or end.
The bells also provide an auditory text. When a specific tune or chime was identified, I literally stopped and listened. Eli loves bells, and they play a significant role in his life. Zurenda’s bells are not arbitrary. When Delia and Eli visit Magnolia Manor, for example, “he nearly fell into the hedge jumping out of the car to get to the door and ring the bell.” Not only is this a wonderful example of something a kid would just do (I recalled fighting with my sisters over elevator buttons and doorbells), it says something important about Eli’s character. He is more connected to the divine, closer to it than others, because he faces a near death experience as a young child. He lives his life on the edge because of the mental and physical pain he undergoes. Attempting to escape the cruelty of his childhood, and desperate to fit in, he takes dangerous risks that revolve around bells because they help him escape his thoughts. In adolescence, Eli becomes heavily involved with drugs, simultaneously escaping and experimenting, always looking for something deeper, mapping out his philosophy. When golden bells make heavenly music during an LSD trip, they represent Eli’s need for peace. The bells remind the reader that time is brief, to wake up, live in the moment. In a world largely driven by visual imagery; it’s refreshing to read a novel that relies so heavily on sound imagery.
Thematically, Zurenda questions how love can transcend societal norms, but the book also explores loyalty and the strength of friendships and family. In addition, there is a sense of mystery that surrounds the main plot that keeps you reading which mirrors what happens between Delia and Eli. Bells for Eli is aesthetically pleasurable to read—the cultural imagery, bell symbolism, allusions to John Donne’s poetry—and is a real gem for Southern literature.
Bells for Eli is told by an older Adeline, called Delia, reflecting on her years growing up with her first cousin, Eli. More than just a first cousin, he is her neighbor, her best friend, her true (and forbidden) love. Bells for Eli begins in August 1978 and flashes back to 1959 when Eli drinks lye, permanently damaging his esophagus. He undergoes surgeries and extremely painful procedures, and as a young child is unable to even eat—his mother grinds up food and inserts it into his stomach—and then moves forward as Delia and Eli grow up. The narrative has a dreamy quality, beginning with the prologue when Delia falls asleep in the cemetery, wakes up to the Green Branch town clock’s bells chiming, then contemplates herself and Eli while walking home. From the prologue forward, you are on edge waiting for the other shoe to drop. During scenes when Eli drives his new Camaro on Christmas day or when he climbs the bell clock tower, I held my breath. A handsome and reckless young man in adolescence, Eli falls in love and tries desperately to replace Delia with another version of her in Isabel. Despite his tragic accident, Bells for Eli is a celebration of Eli’s life.
The novel’s point of view—told from the point-of-view of first-person observer and protagonist, Delia Green—resembles the point-of-view in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald—I will say I consulted Writing Fiction by Janet Burroway and mulled point-of-view over, wondering if this was a hybrid between first-person central and first-person peripheral. Is that possible? Who is this story about? It belongs to both Delia and Eli. Notice the similarity between their names. Is that coincidental? I don’t think so. I think the bells ring for both characters; they are both central to the story. They both suffer, learn, and love equally, but yes, the “I,” or the first-person narrator retelling this story is Delia, and she is the clear protagonist. Eli’s surgeries, the pain, being an outsider throughout his childhood all shape his life, but these events also equally shape Delia’s life. This point-of-view is tricky and masterful on Zurenda’s part. I seriously pondered it, wondered about the choice, and then considered how the point of view creates empathy. Sympathy and empathy are different creatures. This book is about empathy. If Eli told the story, we could commiserate with him, but only to a point, especially if he constantly complained about pain. Having that distance from the actual pain creates a sense of empathy which defines both Delia’s and Eli’s character. Ultimately, this choice in narration works because there is enough distance from Eli so that the narrator doesn’t become whiny; rather, Delia learns and changes and at the same time the reader learns and changes.
The story is a reflection from an older narrator, but when Delia recounts being four-years-old or sixteen-years-old, or whatever age, the voice, imagery, the setting, the dialogue, the action is captured from the perception of that age and time. This is difficult to pull off and shows a level of control not all authors possess. It’s tempting and much easier to speak in the narrator’s current voice. In Bells for Eli, you forget, as a reader, the “I” here is the older Delia and feel like you are experiencing what she felt at age four, at age sixteen, and the narrative supports it via historical and/or cultural references—some of them quite humorous. Though the novel has its tragic moments, it’s imbued with amusing anecdotes that rocketed me straight back into my own childhood and teenage years. I had a vivid sensation of being a child and standing before a rack of Barbie clothes encased in plastic with pure want coursing through my veins when Delia’s friend Gloria boasts about her Barbie’s Executive Career outfit. Zurenda takes you back to a place in time with references to Dark Shadows (a vampire soap opera my own mother watched), Delia’s Ziggy tee-shirt, or Delia and Eli being “placed in the red group, the top group” after reading from “Friends Old and New, Dick and Jane readers.” Oh, I recall this same process in grade school! In addition, some of my very favorite images are from the viewpoint of a very young Delia, describing Uncle Gene’s eyebrows as “caterpillars,” or imagining the white flowers of Mimi’s magnolia trees as popcorn. Thinking like a child, a teenager, a young adult and making the dialogue or imagery realistic for the age while maintaining the narrator’s voice is no small feat.
Now onto bells. Bells, bells, and more bells. As the title suggests, you need to pay attention to bells. One of my favorite literary devices is the symbol. Most organized religions use bells in rituals or services; some say the sound of a bell is the voice of God. Ringing bells are used to warn, as alarms to wake us, to honor people, to celebrate, to announce someone’s arrival, to ward off evil spirits. I could go on and on. Each time a bell appears in Bells for Eli, whether it is the clock bell tower in Green Branch or the doorbell at Magnolia Manor, new levels of meaning surface, and I was reminded of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. Woolf’s chiming Big Ben and Zurenda’s bells have the effect of deliberately jarring the reader from the narrative. Woolf is reminding us that time is not linear. We live in the past, present, and future. We live in our heads, like Mrs. Dalloway; likewise, we relive Delia’s past, connecting it to her present, and ultimately the bells reinforce the fluidity of time with no beginning, middle, or end.
The bells also provide an auditory text. When a specific tune or chime was identified, I literally stopped and listened. Eli loves bells, and they play a significant role in his life. Zurenda’s bells are not arbitrary. When Delia and Eli visit Magnolia Manor, for example, “he nearly fell into the hedge jumping out of the car to get to the door and ring the bell.” Not only is this a wonderful example of something a kid would just do (I recalled fighting with my sisters over elevator buttons and doorbells), it says something important about Eli’s character. He is more connected to the divine, closer to it than others, because he faces a near death experience as a young child. He lives his life on the edge because of the mental and physical pain he undergoes. Attempting to escape the cruelty of his childhood, and desperate to fit in, he takes dangerous risks that revolve around bells because they help him escape his thoughts. In adolescence, Eli becomes heavily involved with drugs, simultaneously escaping and experimenting, always looking for something deeper, mapping out his philosophy. When golden bells make heavenly music during an LSD trip, they represent Eli’s need for peace. The bells remind the reader that time is brief, to wake up, live in the moment. In a world largely driven by visual imagery; it’s refreshing to read a novel that relies so heavily on sound imagery.
Thematically, Zurenda questions how love can transcend societal norms, but the book also explores loyalty and the strength of friendships and family. In addition, there is a sense of mystery that surrounds the main plot that keeps you reading which mirrors what happens between Delia and Eli. Bells for Eli is aesthetically pleasurable to read—the cultural imagery, bell symbolism, allusions to John Donne’s poetry—and is a real gem for Southern literature.
March 23, 2020
For a sweet touching first novel that is so much more than advertised, readers would do well to pick up Bells for Eli. Indeed, I was thrilled to discover that there are still novels that offer such depth of story and strength of character, without any sense of being high-brow.
It all sets off in a graveyard, where a brief chance meeting reveals a great deal about central characters, as well as giving us a sense of the character of this small southern town. It is a deceivingly quiet start for the drama that immediately follows.
No spoilers here! This story needs to be read and savored, without giveaways about events. The two main characters, Delia and Eli, are super, but no less are the many secondary characters: the parents who care so enormously, the families who are related, distantly, but all have that sense of kinship. The mid-twentieth-century in Small-Town South Carolina seems the perfect backdrop.
The harsh details are there, pulling us in from moment-to-moment, yet the details fade beside the emotion, from fear to curiosity, sometimes in as many words. There are moments when we readers grasp the significance of a thing, well before Delia does. It might be described as a coming-of-age novel, although I would say it’s about gaining understanding, and perhaps insight. It is not an entirely comfortable process.
Bells for Eli is simply beautifully written. Somehow, the words slip into the background as the story plays out for us. The author goes far beyond creating reader sympathy; we somehow step into that first summer and share so many firsts in the tenderest of lifetimes. Love is there in so many actions…
The gentle power of this novel completely surprised me. It’s a solid 5 star book. Do read.
It all sets off in a graveyard, where a brief chance meeting reveals a great deal about central characters, as well as giving us a sense of the character of this small southern town. It is a deceivingly quiet start for the drama that immediately follows.
No spoilers here! This story needs to be read and savored, without giveaways about events. The two main characters, Delia and Eli, are super, but no less are the many secondary characters: the parents who care so enormously, the families who are related, distantly, but all have that sense of kinship. The mid-twentieth-century in Small-Town South Carolina seems the perfect backdrop.
The harsh details are there, pulling us in from moment-to-moment, yet the details fade beside the emotion, from fear to curiosity, sometimes in as many words. There are moments when we readers grasp the significance of a thing, well before Delia does. It might be described as a coming-of-age novel, although I would say it’s about gaining understanding, and perhaps insight. It is not an entirely comfortable process.
Bells for Eli is simply beautifully written. Somehow, the words slip into the background as the story plays out for us. The author goes far beyond creating reader sympathy; we somehow step into that first summer and share so many firsts in the tenderest of lifetimes. Love is there in so many actions…
The gentle power of this novel completely surprised me. It’s a solid 5 star book. Do read.
April 22, 2020
A book so comforting, you look forward to snuggling up with it each night. Told through the fresh, new eyes of young Delia—so if you loved To Kill a Mockingbird, the narrative voice in this story will definitely appeal. Delia and Eli are cousins and throughout the years remain close through tragedy and lost innocence. For readers of southern and historical fiction.
January 17, 2020
Bells for Eli reviewed by Wally Wood of Bookpleasures.com
Author: Susan Beckham Zurenda
Publisher; Mercer University Press
ISBN: 978-088146-737-6
We meet Adeline (Delia) Green in August 1975 as she visits the Green Branch Town Cemetery where she meets the town historian who is leading a group of DAR ladies. Delia's family were founding members of Green Branch, the small South Carolina town in which Delia, 19, grew up. She is seven months older than her first cousin Ellison (Eli) Winfield who lives right across the street. Bells for Eli is the story of Delia and Eli's childhood and youth in Green Branch.
The author, Susan Beckham Zurenda, taught literature, composition, and creative writing to high school students for 33 years, which may explain the polish and authority of her first novel. During her years of teaching at Spartanburg Community College and then as an AP English teacher at Spartanburg High School, Susan published short stories and won numerous regional awards such as the South Carolina Fiction Prize (twice), the Porter Fleming Competition, The Southern Writers Symposium Emerging Writers Fiction Contest, The Hub City Hardegree Contest in Fiction, Alabama Conclave First Novel Chapter Contest, and The Jubilee Writing Competition (twice). She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in English from Converse College and now works as a book publicist managing media relations for Magic Time Literary Publicity.
Bells for Eli really begins when three-year-old Eli spots a Coke bottle in which his father has stored Red Devil Liquid Lye and drinks from it. The family's black gardener saves Eli's life, but Eli's throat and esophagus are horribly burned. He spends six months in a Boston hospital and when he comes home he has a hole in his neck so he can breath and a port to his stomach so he can be fed pureed mush.
Delia tells the story of growing up with Eli who, though terribly scarred internally, is eventually able to breath and eat normally. The author conveys what it was like to grow up in small town South Carolina during the 1960s and early 1970s given the the characters and their situation: Delia's uncle Gene, Eli's father, a Southern good-old-boy who wants a manly son . . . her aunt Mary Lily, who comes from the side of the family that kept their money . . . Eli's grandmother Mary Margaret who lives in a mansion Sherman's troops tried to burn down but was saved . . . plus Delia's parents, neighborhood bullies, boy friends, and more.
And running through the book is the love between Delia and Eli, an attraction that evolves from childhood playmate to something more adult. As first cousins, however, they know they cannot marry, and the author convincingly relates how the tension between desire and inhibition affects (distorts?) the decisions—choices—Delia and Eli make.
I was struck by how well Zurenda writes without drawing attention to the language. Here's Delia watching Eli being dragged into the house by his father after sassing his mother: "I had no concept of the beating that awaited Eli. the most I ever got was a couple of pops on the bottom with Mama's green hairbrush. My father's hand had spanked me only once. When I lied to him about emptying green peas from my plate—I detested them—being the kitchen door next to my seat at the dining table. I insisted Helen had pitched the peas. I was spanked for lying, for blaming my sister, not for hating peas." Five sentences that say volumes about the family dynamics.
And here is Delia's description of Mary Margaret's pre-war (pre-Civil War) house: "We stepped inside the entry hall, wider than any room in my house. I inhaled the rich, sweet, old wood smell. A leaded glass fixture overhead dimly illuminated dark furniture: the mahogany table, its ever-present candy dish filled to the top, the Regency side chairs and the hall tree. People long dead inside golden frames peered out straight-faced from the right wall—flanking the family shield and crossed swords—following us with their eyes. The stairs rose along the other side."
Bells for Eli is, indeed, as one early reader says, "a memorable, atmospheric novel of love, friendship, and bonds that surpass all reason." I couldn't have said it better myself, so I won't.
Author: Susan Beckham Zurenda
Publisher; Mercer University Press
ISBN: 978-088146-737-6
We meet Adeline (Delia) Green in August 1975 as she visits the Green Branch Town Cemetery where she meets the town historian who is leading a group of DAR ladies. Delia's family were founding members of Green Branch, the small South Carolina town in which Delia, 19, grew up. She is seven months older than her first cousin Ellison (Eli) Winfield who lives right across the street. Bells for Eli is the story of Delia and Eli's childhood and youth in Green Branch.
The author, Susan Beckham Zurenda, taught literature, composition, and creative writing to high school students for 33 years, which may explain the polish and authority of her first novel. During her years of teaching at Spartanburg Community College and then as an AP English teacher at Spartanburg High School, Susan published short stories and won numerous regional awards such as the South Carolina Fiction Prize (twice), the Porter Fleming Competition, The Southern Writers Symposium Emerging Writers Fiction Contest, The Hub City Hardegree Contest in Fiction, Alabama Conclave First Novel Chapter Contest, and The Jubilee Writing Competition (twice). She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in English from Converse College and now works as a book publicist managing media relations for Magic Time Literary Publicity.
Bells for Eli really begins when three-year-old Eli spots a Coke bottle in which his father has stored Red Devil Liquid Lye and drinks from it. The family's black gardener saves Eli's life, but Eli's throat and esophagus are horribly burned. He spends six months in a Boston hospital and when he comes home he has a hole in his neck so he can breath and a port to his stomach so he can be fed pureed mush.
Delia tells the story of growing up with Eli who, though terribly scarred internally, is eventually able to breath and eat normally. The author conveys what it was like to grow up in small town South Carolina during the 1960s and early 1970s given the the characters and their situation: Delia's uncle Gene, Eli's father, a Southern good-old-boy who wants a manly son . . . her aunt Mary Lily, who comes from the side of the family that kept their money . . . Eli's grandmother Mary Margaret who lives in a mansion Sherman's troops tried to burn down but was saved . . . plus Delia's parents, neighborhood bullies, boy friends, and more.
And running through the book is the love between Delia and Eli, an attraction that evolves from childhood playmate to something more adult. As first cousins, however, they know they cannot marry, and the author convincingly relates how the tension between desire and inhibition affects (distorts?) the decisions—choices—Delia and Eli make.
I was struck by how well Zurenda writes without drawing attention to the language. Here's Delia watching Eli being dragged into the house by his father after sassing his mother: "I had no concept of the beating that awaited Eli. the most I ever got was a couple of pops on the bottom with Mama's green hairbrush. My father's hand had spanked me only once. When I lied to him about emptying green peas from my plate—I detested them—being the kitchen door next to my seat at the dining table. I insisted Helen had pitched the peas. I was spanked for lying, for blaming my sister, not for hating peas." Five sentences that say volumes about the family dynamics.
And here is Delia's description of Mary Margaret's pre-war (pre-Civil War) house: "We stepped inside the entry hall, wider than any room in my house. I inhaled the rich, sweet, old wood smell. A leaded glass fixture overhead dimly illuminated dark furniture: the mahogany table, its ever-present candy dish filled to the top, the Regency side chairs and the hall tree. People long dead inside golden frames peered out straight-faced from the right wall—flanking the family shield and crossed swords—following us with their eyes. The stairs rose along the other side."
Bells for Eli is, indeed, as one early reader says, "a memorable, atmospheric novel of love, friendship, and bonds that surpass all reason." I couldn't have said it better myself, so I won't.
March 17, 2020
I love this book! Delia transported me back to the days of baby doll pajamas and six ounce Coca Colas! The characters are so rich!!! I am missing them already.
April 25, 2020
I liked this book. Met the author and enjoyed reading this first novel.
Interesting story about the relationship of first cousins.
Interesting story about the relationship of first cousins.
September 11, 2020
Sometimes dark but beautifully written and full of surprises.
March 5, 2020
I love a novel that is so absorbing that I can not wait to dig back into it the next day. When I slow down my reading rate at the end of the novel I acknowledge that that I just do not want the novel to end. I have not felt that way since reading all of the novels of the beloved Ann Rivers Siddons. With BELLS FOR ELI I discovered this rare experience again.
This compelling, exquisite story of forbidden love and coming of age of the narrator, appealing Delia and her beautiful cousin Eli takes place in the 1960's and 70's. A heartbreaking accident and intriguing family secrets yield a profoundly memorable story with a stunning ending. Not only did this story reawaken wonderful childhood memories of being raised in a small town, but also the author's insights into small town life and complicated family relationships engaged me from the very beginning of the novel. This story abounds with suspense and plot twists.
The authors's descriptive and engrossing prose is reminiscent of my favorite southern authors. I am sure that I will continue to read her novels.
This compelling, exquisite story of forbidden love and coming of age of the narrator, appealing Delia and her beautiful cousin Eli takes place in the 1960's and 70's. A heartbreaking accident and intriguing family secrets yield a profoundly memorable story with a stunning ending. Not only did this story reawaken wonderful childhood memories of being raised in a small town, but also the author's insights into small town life and complicated family relationships engaged me from the very beginning of the novel. This story abounds with suspense and plot twists.
The authors's descriptive and engrossing prose is reminiscent of my favorite southern authors. I am sure that I will continue to read her novels.
September 9, 2020
What a beautifully written debut novel! This coming-of-age story is memorable in so many ways....well-developed characters, surprising turns of events, and a somewhat sad, but fulfilling, ending. The words flowed so nicely as the lives of Eli and Adeline, and their friends and family, moved along through highs and lows. Looking forward to reading more from Susán Beckham Zurenda!
April 11, 2020
I definitely became invested in these characters! I’m a huge fan of Southern fiction and this did no disappoint. Sweet coming of age story of first cousins.
July 6, 2020
Susan Zurenda beautifully captures life in the small town of Green Branch, SC, along with the Winfield and Green families - along with their happy times, struggles, and secrets. I've not read such a wonderful Southern novel in years.
August 17, 2020
Susan Zurenda's Bells For Eli is a simple yet complicated and powerful debut novel set in the 1960s and 1970s. Cousins Eli and Delia grow up across the street from each other in a small, seemingly tranquil, South Carolina town. They are the same age and best friends.
The story begins when they are three years old. Eli’s father leaves an open Coca-Cola bottle containing lye on their back-porch steps. He’d used the lye to blow up the balloons for Eli’s third birthday. Eli finds the bottle and takes a drink. (Zurenda writes about the real-life basis for this event on her blog.) He barely survives, enduring numerous surgeries and long hospitalizations. This accident forever impacts their lives: Eli is teased, tortured, and shunned by his classmates in elementary school because he is different from the other children. They eat normally, for example, while his nutrition is inserted through a feeding tube. Delia, who narrates the story, is his loyal and dedicated defender. Her voice has a certain echo of the voice of Scout Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird, also set in a small Southern town in simpler times
As an adolescent, Eli’s outward scars are no longer visible. His internal emotional and physical scars, as well as his self-doubt, are manifested through increasingly impulsive and dangerous behaviors. The characters are well developed and in tune with the times they lived through. The pacing kept me turning the pages to find out what would happen next, and the plot provides some unexpected and surprising twists. The author’s research for period details is remarkable; this novel evoked my own coming of age.
Eli is an only child and his mother comes from a wealthy family. Delia describes her aunt as a glamorous, beautiful, and kind lady who dresses like June Cleaver. She is a classical pianist with one unmarried, childless, professor brother. Her family does not really accept Eli’s dad, a loud, stocky veteran. He is a salesman, but as his drinking increases, he works less and less.
Delia’s mother and Eli’s father are brother and sister; but they are as different as day and night. Her mother is strict but nurturing, while her uncle is a guilt-ridden alcoholic who pushes his son to be one of the boys—chasing girls, being tough, taking no guff from anyone, and participating in high school sports and drinking parties. Delia’s father is a quiet banker, and provides a stable home for his family. They go to church together every week, but they are not wealthy.
This novel addresses a taboo subject in today’s world: the cousins are in love with each other. Eli's maternal grandmother warns them that it can never be. She provides them with clues to mysterious family secrets which Eli eventually solves.
Bells For Eli follows Eli and Delia’s lives for nineteen years. Though a coming of age story, this novel is for anyone of any age who enjoys reading period drama set in the 1960s and 1970s. The story will stay with you long after the last page.
This book was reviewed for Story Circle Book Reviews by Ann McCauley.
The story begins when they are three years old. Eli’s father leaves an open Coca-Cola bottle containing lye on their back-porch steps. He’d used the lye to blow up the balloons for Eli’s third birthday. Eli finds the bottle and takes a drink. (Zurenda writes about the real-life basis for this event on her blog.) He barely survives, enduring numerous surgeries and long hospitalizations. This accident forever impacts their lives: Eli is teased, tortured, and shunned by his classmates in elementary school because he is different from the other children. They eat normally, for example, while his nutrition is inserted through a feeding tube. Delia, who narrates the story, is his loyal and dedicated defender. Her voice has a certain echo of the voice of Scout Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird, also set in a small Southern town in simpler times
As an adolescent, Eli’s outward scars are no longer visible. His internal emotional and physical scars, as well as his self-doubt, are manifested through increasingly impulsive and dangerous behaviors. The characters are well developed and in tune with the times they lived through. The pacing kept me turning the pages to find out what would happen next, and the plot provides some unexpected and surprising twists. The author’s research for period details is remarkable; this novel evoked my own coming of age.
Eli is an only child and his mother comes from a wealthy family. Delia describes her aunt as a glamorous, beautiful, and kind lady who dresses like June Cleaver. She is a classical pianist with one unmarried, childless, professor brother. Her family does not really accept Eli’s dad, a loud, stocky veteran. He is a salesman, but as his drinking increases, he works less and less.
Delia’s mother and Eli’s father are brother and sister; but they are as different as day and night. Her mother is strict but nurturing, while her uncle is a guilt-ridden alcoholic who pushes his son to be one of the boys—chasing girls, being tough, taking no guff from anyone, and participating in high school sports and drinking parties. Delia’s father is a quiet banker, and provides a stable home for his family. They go to church together every week, but they are not wealthy.
This novel addresses a taboo subject in today’s world: the cousins are in love with each other. Eli's maternal grandmother warns them that it can never be. She provides them with clues to mysterious family secrets which Eli eventually solves.
Bells For Eli follows Eli and Delia’s lives for nineteen years. Though a coming of age story, this novel is for anyone of any age who enjoys reading period drama set in the 1960s and 1970s. The story will stay with you long after the last page.
This book was reviewed for Story Circle Book Reviews by Ann McCauley.
February 26, 2020
I started this book not knowing what to expect, but I was more than pleased with the journey. I am grateful for Susan Beckham Zurenda and Mercer University Press for entrusting me an advance copy of her debut novel.
Few novels succeed in stirring so much emotions within me, but when they do, I am always in awe. The emotions and feelings in this book is unparalleled.
𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑬𝒍𝒊 is a tender and engaging coming-of-age story in which fate takes with one hand and gives with the other in a time and place of social constraints. It is a world where family secrets must stay hidden. The novels explore the power of family, friends and culture.
If you love stories about family and friendship, give this book a go!
Few novels succeed in stirring so much emotions within me, but when they do, I am always in awe. The emotions and feelings in this book is unparalleled.
𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑬𝒍𝒊 is a tender and engaging coming-of-age story in which fate takes with one hand and gives with the other in a time and place of social constraints. It is a world where family secrets must stay hidden. The novels explore the power of family, friends and culture.
If you love stories about family and friendship, give this book a go!
August 17, 2021
This is a wonderful southern fiction, coming of age story with many layers and well-developed characters. I throughly enjoyed Susan’s writing and this story will stay with me forever. Highly recommend!
February 29, 2020
A haunting coming-of-age novel that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.
May 17, 2021
Bells For Eli is a coming-of-age historical southern fiction novel by debut author Susan Beckham Zurenda. The novel address issues of forbidden love, friendship, and family set in a small Southern town.
This well written novel
This well written novel
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