Lovesick

Book excerpt: Spanning the 1930s to the present day, James Driggers' evocative Southern Gothic collection introduces the intriguing inhabitants of Morris, South Carolina--a small town where a mix of rich, poor, and in-between co-exist, grappling with desire, ambition, hope, and loneliness. . . Amid a landscaped dotted with farms, trailers, and genteel homes, there lives a talented baker who desperately needs to win a cooking contest but must team up with a down-on-her-heels society matron to do it. . .the Bramble sisters, whose husbands tend to be short-lived and wealthy, but whose latest prospect arrives with complications. . .a widow who becomes dangerously obsessed with a snake-charming televangelist. . .and a lonely florist who will do anything for the sake of a ruthless local mechanic. With wit and insight lurking beneath a palpable air of menace, James Driggers' debut is a tautly plotted, evocative exploration of love--and all that we do in its name. . .