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South of Heaven
SOUTH OF HEAVEN, set in Carthage, North Carolina, tells the story of two estranged sisters forced to sink or swim under the same leaky roof. Fern McQueen is at peace with her mid-life-self. She is content to watch over her son who is incapable of telling a lie, and her beloved aunt who carries secrets in a macramé purse while her mind slips away. But Fern's peace ends and her reckless past is resurrected when her husband's remains are found in Vietnam after he has been missing-in-action for twenty-three years. Meanwhile, her sister Leona's carefully crafted life in Raleigh begins to unravel when her doctor husband is accused of Medicaid fraud. To avoid having to tell her daughters the whole truth about their father's predicament and to escape the humiliation and snubs from an unforgiving social set, Leona loads up the Lexus and heads for home—a place she vowed to leave forever. While the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal plays out live on CNN, Fern and Leona's own secrets become front page news and the sisters find themselves at odds with their grown children who feel betrayed by a lifetime of lies. Miscommunications and slights, real and imagined, threaten to keep the sisters divided but in the end the inexplicable bond of family, a widowed preacher in search of his own lost faith, and an unlikely business venture—involving emu and home decorating—deliver rescue. SOUTH OF HEAVEN explores how the truth needs only a self-righteous nudge to become a lie, and how the dreaded truth can lead to unexpected consequences. This story is a testament to second chances.
287 pages, Paperback
First published March 12, 2013
About the author
Patti Frye Meredith
1 book17 followersPatti Meredith grew up in Galax, Virginia. Most of her stories are set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but her debut novel, South of Heaven, takes place in the North Carolina Sandhills where her family’s roots run deep.
“The Carthage in South of Heaven is a place formed from the hazy childhood memories I have of visiting my grandmothers. If you know the real Carthage, I apologize for misplaced landmarks and fictitious churches!”
After graduating from Virginia Tech with a degree in horticulture, she was fortunate to cultivate a career in television production and worked for many years at UNC-TV on the long running program, North Carolina People with William Friday.
“Mr. Friday loved talking with writers, and listening to his conversations with Lee Smith, Doris Betts, Reynolds Price, and others inspired me to want to find my own stories in the scribbled stops and starts I kept in ratty notebooks."
Patti holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Memphis. Her stories have appeared in Appalachian Heritage, Still: The Journal, and Mulberry Fork Review.
She has lived in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana and wouldn’t take anything for the friends she’s made along the way. Patti, her husband, Lee, and their Springer Spaniel, Maggie, are now settled in Chapel Hill.
“The Carthage in South of Heaven is a place formed from the hazy childhood memories I have of visiting my grandmothers. If you know the real Carthage, I apologize for misplaced landmarks and fictitious churches!”
After graduating from Virginia Tech with a degree in horticulture, she was fortunate to cultivate a career in television production and worked for many years at UNC-TV on the long running program, North Carolina People with William Friday.
“Mr. Friday loved talking with writers, and listening to his conversations with Lee Smith, Doris Betts, Reynolds Price, and others inspired me to want to find my own stories in the scribbled stops and starts I kept in ratty notebooks."
Patti holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Memphis. Her stories have appeared in Appalachian Heritage, Still: The Journal, and Mulberry Fork Review.
She has lived in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana and wouldn’t take anything for the friends she’s made along the way. Patti, her husband, Lee, and their Springer Spaniel, Maggie, are now settled in Chapel Hill.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 15, 2025
Best book I’ve read in ages! I fell for the characters immediately. There’s so much compassion in each chapter as the story unfolds. I hated to finish the book but could not stop reading it. I hope to read more from this first time author!
May 10, 2022
I gave this novel something around 100 stars as I read with a pen in hand, marking the phrases that moved me. South of Heaven is full of characters I'd like to have as neighbors--not because they're perfectly congenial, but because they're honest, and because I saw them come to a place of reconciliation in a way that leaves me no doubt they'd extend me some grace, too. I recommend South of Heaven for all the book club readers who aren't afraid to face some hard truths about real life and real families. I don't want to spoil any of the surprises, so I'll stick with some pretty vague stuff. It's about sisters and lovers and interior design and emus. (I'm ready to meet some.) There are helpings of shame and humor, lies and redemption, disaster and decorating. And it's a snapshot of small town life not so long ago, during the most recent turn-of-the-century period. Just read it!
May 10, 2022
So beautiful. So honest. The small moments where characters show us who they are—and not who they want us to think they are—are so joyous.
I highly recommend getting this book in your hands. It’s a keeper.
I highly recommend getting this book in your hands. It’s a keeper.
May 18, 2022
I love this book! Lots of laugh out loud moments, Southernisms, lovable characters, serious themes. The novel captures a moment in the South when a small town finds itself understanding new ways to love, old prejudices lose their grip and secret shame shifts to acceptance. I cried! And yes I love Dean the most! The book also contains some powerful preaching about brokenness and healing, some of the best preaching I've heard in a long time. Dead honest, wry and funny, Patti Frye Meredith is a writer to watch.
May 10, 2022
A novel with heart and humor, South of Heaven introduces us to characters whose lives seem deceptively simple until closely held secrets reveal layers of complexity. These complex characters and the author's skill at bringing them to life and into our hearts make South of Heaven a novel you don't forget. Meredith is brilliant at choosing details illuminating her characters and their surroundings. The reader joins them in Carthage, NC, and remains closely attached to them, even after the satisfying ending.
July 1, 2022
In this novel of small-town society and family dysfunction, Fern McQueen has spent her life in a fishbowl, raising her son as a single parent while guarding a bombshell secret. Then her maddening older sister shows up with a scorching secret of her own. Yet out of a history of a family torn apart, South of Heaven reaches for redemption, and it's a joyful experience! It is warm, life-affirming, and funny, offering acceptance and a veritable southern spring of blossoming love. I want the whole reading world to read it. Book groups and all readers who love a book that leads to tears of joy, take note!
May 22, 2022
A little over twenty years ago while at South Carolina ETV I was fortunate to have worked side-by-side with Patti Frye Meredith, the author of “South of Heaven.” We often collaborated over television and radio program descriptions, press releases, and general promotion. During this time Patti and Lee often invited members of the communications team over to their home in Northeast Columbia. Here we’d spend long summer evenings outside on the back patio decompressing while swapping stories about small towns and big cities.
As a Los Angeles transplant, I was captivated by Patti’s tales of the South. We heard stories about her childhood town of Galax, Virginia as well as adventures she and Lee had experienced in Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana. Each nugget was shared with tenderness, color, humor and heart. She made us laugh, brought tears to our eyes. Clearly, there was something inexplicably unique about growing up in the South. Something that William Faulkner, Harper Lee, and Patti Meredith knew. Something I would never quite understand.
Twenty plus years on, we are now blessed with “South of Heaven” Patti’s first novel, written while sequestered during a world-wide pandemic lock-down. She was hardly alone however, as she was constantly being badgered by her emerging characters: estranged sisters Fern and Leona, persistent preacher and widower Roy Puckett, lively, but slightly slipping eighty-year-old Aunt Belle, and the unspoken presence of Fern’s MIA husband Dean McQueen—a presumed casualty of the Vietnam War. Add in Doyle Blue, a reformed hard-drinker, and Fern’s mildly slutty friend Carol Ann and you’ll find a cacophony of Southern voices that surely eliminated Patti’s sense of isolation.
And let’s not forget the emus. Two to be exact. The world’s second-largest, by height, living bird. Known for hissing. But don’t let me get ahead of myself.
As the story begins Bill Clinton is in his second term. The small town of Carthage, North Carolina is clucking and shaking heads over that “pretty intern.” Fern, who works over at the Citizen-Times where her tasks include editing obituaries as well as the “Faith Corner” columns, is a bit distressed that the Clinton affair is morphing the Citizen-Times into the National Enquirer. Her young boss disagrees countering that “Everybody knows he’s a hound dog. I can’t believe you’re defending him.” That’s not it. Fern is too practical for that. She simply pities the girl. She knows “how a young mistake could mark a life.” What about Fern’s middle-aged life. How has it been marked?
We immediately see that Fern still lives in the old Barrett House—neglected but still historic with its very own designated plaque. For Fern, the Barrett House is simply the family home, one that she once shared with her abusive, alcoholic and now deceased parents. Today, the vibe is quieter and gentler, the house is also inhabited by Fern’s teen-age son Dean and Aunt Belle. As the story begins, Fern’s sister Leona is about to change that vibe into something much more strident.
If Fern represents those who love and wear the familiarity and pace of a small town, Leona represents the opposite. She is embarrassed by her heritage, by her family, and by her town. She has painstakingly moved mountains to escape the imprint of Carthage. For years she has been married to a successful surgeon.They share an impressive home in Raleigh and a vacation house in Heron Point and have two beautiful, successful and well-bred daughters. At fifty, Leona enjoys the extended privileges society confers upon a surgeon’s wife. Indeed, she glories in the higher stratosphere until an unsettling reveal sends her charging back to Carthage where she seems determined to upset the peace.
Several themes unfold during the next 300 pages.There are unresolved sibling issues, devastating love triangles, truth and consequences, the navigation of the loss of a young mother, and/or the absence of a missing father. Patti also takes an open yet tender look at how organized religion manifests faith, dishes out community condemnation, yet also offers up forgiveness. “South of Heaven” is a universal story with a Southern twist. And, because it does take place in the South, the novel not only has to deal with the vagaries of Southern life but also the vagaries of Southern weather. You can’t have one without the other.
And again, the emus. I’ve decided not to spoil any plot lines concerning the emus. I will only say that they play an essential role, male and female, in all their hissing and spitting glory.
The richness of “South of Heaven” is in the dialog. For me, as an outsider still, the Southern speech patterns and expressions make this story not only authentic but entertaining. Readers will see, feel, and discover each character through a Southern lens.
Which reminds me. One evening as work was wrapping up at ETV Patti told us that she was going to be a little late the next morning as she was going to be a guest on a local early morning radio program. If I remember correctly I believe she planned to accompany herself on the guitar while sharing some poetry, songs, and stories. I tuned into the station during my morning drive and as her segment came on I pulled into a Publix parking lot so that I could give her my full attention. I am sure that early morning shoppers wondered about the woman who was laughing, crying, and clapping in the red Toyota.
Reading “South of Heaven” brings all of that spontaneous joy, tenderness, and astonishment. There is great satisfaction in Patti’s simple but elegant storytelling. “South of Heaven” reminds me that our friends and family make us better if only we allow it. Their stories impact our own stories as they help us understand the importance of empathy, trust and humanity. You know, the hard stuff.
If we don’t have time to do the hard work, we can always resort to Fern’s exasperated plea, “Lord. Help my time of day.”
“South of Heaven” is available on Kindle at Amazon or can be ordered from www.MainStreetRag.com
As a Los Angeles transplant, I was captivated by Patti’s tales of the South. We heard stories about her childhood town of Galax, Virginia as well as adventures she and Lee had experienced in Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana. Each nugget was shared with tenderness, color, humor and heart. She made us laugh, brought tears to our eyes. Clearly, there was something inexplicably unique about growing up in the South. Something that William Faulkner, Harper Lee, and Patti Meredith knew. Something I would never quite understand.
Twenty plus years on, we are now blessed with “South of Heaven” Patti’s first novel, written while sequestered during a world-wide pandemic lock-down. She was hardly alone however, as she was constantly being badgered by her emerging characters: estranged sisters Fern and Leona, persistent preacher and widower Roy Puckett, lively, but slightly slipping eighty-year-old Aunt Belle, and the unspoken presence of Fern’s MIA husband Dean McQueen—a presumed casualty of the Vietnam War. Add in Doyle Blue, a reformed hard-drinker, and Fern’s mildly slutty friend Carol Ann and you’ll find a cacophony of Southern voices that surely eliminated Patti’s sense of isolation.
And let’s not forget the emus. Two to be exact. The world’s second-largest, by height, living bird. Known for hissing. But don’t let me get ahead of myself.
As the story begins Bill Clinton is in his second term. The small town of Carthage, North Carolina is clucking and shaking heads over that “pretty intern.” Fern, who works over at the Citizen-Times where her tasks include editing obituaries as well as the “Faith Corner” columns, is a bit distressed that the Clinton affair is morphing the Citizen-Times into the National Enquirer. Her young boss disagrees countering that “Everybody knows he’s a hound dog. I can’t believe you’re defending him.” That’s not it. Fern is too practical for that. She simply pities the girl. She knows “how a young mistake could mark a life.” What about Fern’s middle-aged life. How has it been marked?
We immediately see that Fern still lives in the old Barrett House—neglected but still historic with its very own designated plaque. For Fern, the Barrett House is simply the family home, one that she once shared with her abusive, alcoholic and now deceased parents. Today, the vibe is quieter and gentler, the house is also inhabited by Fern’s teen-age son Dean and Aunt Belle. As the story begins, Fern’s sister Leona is about to change that vibe into something much more strident.
If Fern represents those who love and wear the familiarity and pace of a small town, Leona represents the opposite. She is embarrassed by her heritage, by her family, and by her town. She has painstakingly moved mountains to escape the imprint of Carthage. For years she has been married to a successful surgeon.They share an impressive home in Raleigh and a vacation house in Heron Point and have two beautiful, successful and well-bred daughters. At fifty, Leona enjoys the extended privileges society confers upon a surgeon’s wife. Indeed, she glories in the higher stratosphere until an unsettling reveal sends her charging back to Carthage where she seems determined to upset the peace.
Several themes unfold during the next 300 pages.There are unresolved sibling issues, devastating love triangles, truth and consequences, the navigation of the loss of a young mother, and/or the absence of a missing father. Patti also takes an open yet tender look at how organized religion manifests faith, dishes out community condemnation, yet also offers up forgiveness. “South of Heaven” is a universal story with a Southern twist. And, because it does take place in the South, the novel not only has to deal with the vagaries of Southern life but also the vagaries of Southern weather. You can’t have one without the other.
And again, the emus. I’ve decided not to spoil any plot lines concerning the emus. I will only say that they play an essential role, male and female, in all their hissing and spitting glory.
The richness of “South of Heaven” is in the dialog. For me, as an outsider still, the Southern speech patterns and expressions make this story not only authentic but entertaining. Readers will see, feel, and discover each character through a Southern lens.
Which reminds me. One evening as work was wrapping up at ETV Patti told us that she was going to be a little late the next morning as she was going to be a guest on a local early morning radio program. If I remember correctly I believe she planned to accompany herself on the guitar while sharing some poetry, songs, and stories. I tuned into the station during my morning drive and as her segment came on I pulled into a Publix parking lot so that I could give her my full attention. I am sure that early morning shoppers wondered about the woman who was laughing, crying, and clapping in the red Toyota.
Reading “South of Heaven” brings all of that spontaneous joy, tenderness, and astonishment. There is great satisfaction in Patti’s simple but elegant storytelling. “South of Heaven” reminds me that our friends and family make us better if only we allow it. Their stories impact our own stories as they help us understand the importance of empathy, trust and humanity. You know, the hard stuff.
If we don’t have time to do the hard work, we can always resort to Fern’s exasperated plea, “Lord. Help my time of day.”
“South of Heaven” is available on Kindle at Amazon or can be ordered from www.MainStreetRag.com
May 31, 2022
Both deeply Southern and completely universal, South of Heaven is a spellbinding read concocted from the perfect combination of family secrets and generational shame as well as the healing light of reconciliation and acceptance. A beautiful debut from a voice that is as fun to read as she is gifted.
June 13, 2022
What a read, what a ride! I am so sad to be finished with this book because I already miss all of the characters. They are certainly my friends now…people I’ve known…and I can’t stand that I can’t call them up and see what’s goin’ on. The author has given us people and stories and places that are so real, not just if you are from the South but if you are from any small town in the US. How many of us know a Dean? Or a Fern? And her sister Leona, the fancy sister? There are so many characters and names who are tied into this story, but isn’t that life in a small town? The preacher neighbor. The Pack n’ Go employee. The ex-sister-in-law. These are the people of our every day lives. This was the book I needed this weekend after quarantining with Covid: it was like a visit with friends. An upbeat book with serious themes about aging, forgiveness, and truth.
I went to a bookstore in Pittsboro NC, and this author, Patti Meredith, was having a reading. Her Southern accent, humor and smile convinced me to buy the book; if her written words were as funny as her spoken words, then this was going to be a good read. I wasn’t disappointed.
I went to a bookstore in Pittsboro NC, and this author, Patti Meredith, was having a reading. Her Southern accent, humor and smile convinced me to buy the book; if her written words were as funny as her spoken words, then this was going to be a good read. I wasn’t disappointed.
July 10, 2022
I really enjoyed reading this book, and it goes quickly! Being from NC was an extra treat as the setting felt like a character itself. I really liked Fern and grew to feel kindly toward Leona. I would rank this a 4.5 really, but I rounded down instead of up because some bits felt easier and simple than I think they would likely be. Having said that, everything isn't completely wrapped up in the end, which feels much more true than if it were. It feels like there could be a sequel, and I'd read it!
July 1, 2023
Since I live only minutes from Carthage, I knew I had to read this novel. It was great! Patti Frye Meredith did a good job developing her characters - two adult sisters forced back under the same roof, an aunt with dementia, a new preacher in town, complicated marriages, emus, secrets, etc. The southern setting made it all the better. The jargon made me laugh out loud: "Lord help my time of day!" It's quick, easy, and enjoyable. Read it!
March 1, 2024
South of Heaven by Patti Frye Meredith is a contemporary family fiction that is filled to the brim with amazing characters, as well as a delightful and though-provoking storyline. In fact, if you have family - and we all do - you'll relate to miscommunications, slights, white lies, bold-faced lies, and reinventions of the past that often occur between those we love.
Fern made a poor choice when she was barely accountable for such things and has lived with the consequences every single day since. Except for her son, her aunt, and one friend, she has kept to herself, hoping to somehow atone for her sins. Her sister, Leona, on the other hand, seems to have it all, moving beyond their rotten childhood. But what happens when truth - old and new - becomes headline news?
I love this story because it is one of redemption and love. We all make mistakes. We all try to cover those mistakes up, usually with disastrous results. We all find a way to love family, despite it all. This is a wonderful novel, and I highly recommend it.
Fern made a poor choice when she was barely accountable for such things and has lived with the consequences every single day since. Except for her son, her aunt, and one friend, she has kept to herself, hoping to somehow atone for her sins. Her sister, Leona, on the other hand, seems to have it all, moving beyond their rotten childhood. But what happens when truth - old and new - becomes headline news?
I love this story because it is one of redemption and love. We all make mistakes. We all try to cover those mistakes up, usually with disastrous results. We all find a way to love family, despite it all. This is a wonderful novel, and I highly recommend it.
August 30, 2022
I enjoyed this story so much. The characters came to life as I learned about their strengths and flaws. The sense of place made feel like I knew this town. A fun, feel good read!
May 10, 2023
Such a good book! The characters really pop and the dialogue is great too. Fingers crossed that there will be a sequel! ;)
December 9, 2023
The ties between past and present, the truth we tell ourselves, and the lies we ignore. A delightful tale that swings between sorrow, guilt, and mirth.
June 14, 2023
South of Heaven is southern fiction at its finest. Meredith brings the NC Sandhills to life with an array of characters I loved getting to know! The family dynamics are gripping, and the character’s individual stories are woven together in a way that reminds us that family is at the heart of all we do. I am happily crossing my fingers for a sequel!
February 2, 2023
Some people write books for the same reason others climb mountains or jump out of airplanes — to say they’ve done it. Others have the foolish notion they’ll sell a slew of copies and get semi-famous. It seems like a lot of trouble to put yourself through, either way. But the writers I like, the writers I read and recommend, write out of a pure love of storytelling. Patti Frye Meredith is one of those, and “South of Heaven,” a novel filled with heart and heartache, secrets and surprises, is the proof of it.
January 2, 2024
Read it over the 2 day ice storm and Patti transported me to the Barrett House front porch with sweet tea and emus. Completely charmed by the storytelling.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews