Episode 10 --- Angela Flournoy
This episode of the ReadMore podcast was sponsored by the Miami Book Fair International.
Angela Flournoy's The Turner House was on several best book lists for 2015. Her debut novel was also a National Book Award finalist, and she was selected as a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. Angela is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and she has impeccable style.
Her novel, The Turner House, centers around a large family from Detroit. Francis and and Viola Turner have 13 kids. They moved to the city from Arkansas in search of a better life. The novel spans more than 50 years as we see the kids move away from the city and in some cases come back. They're forced to contend with the loss of their father as well as a changing neighborhood and a changing city. When the recession hits in 2008, their mother becomes seriously ill, and there's a chance the family could lose their home.
And, to top it all off, the oldest Turner kid, Cha-Cha, is haunted by a ghost, which Turner calls a haint.
Click here to listen to the podcast.
Interview Highlights:
Angela reveals:
- why she wanted to tell a blacker Detroit story
- why she doesn't think it's hard to write well-drawn male characters
- why she's read a jazz legend's autobiography several times
We have a free, signed hardcover edition of Angela's The Turner House to give away to the first listener who sends us a tweet (@ReadMorePodcast) or writes on our Facebook page telling us the novelist Angela would like to see get more attention.
Contest Rules:
If you have won a ReadMore giveaway in the last 90 days, you're ineligible for this contest. Also, if you and I have ever attended a concert together at Walnut Creek, you're out of luck. ReadMore does not have a friends and family plan! But I can offer you one of the hundreds of Daniel Tiger songs in my head.
And, you can support ReadMore when you order this book from Amazon.com using the link below: