First published 2021
Graduate student Jenn Shapland stumbles upon intimate letters written to Carson McCullers by a woman named Annemarie. The passionate correspondence reveals a side of the famous Southern writer that history has overlooked. Shapland recognizes something of herself in these unguarded expressions of love between women. Her academic curiosity transforms into personal obsession as she digs deeper into McCullers's hidden relationships. Shapland begins questioning why women's stories get buried beneath other people's versions of events. She wonders what happens when queer women must constantly revise themselves to fit into straight society. As Shapland traces McCullers's secrets and legacy, she confronts her own identity and desires. The investigation becomes a mirror, forcing Shapland to examine how the writers we admire shape who we become. This exploration weaves together two women's lives across decades, revealing how love stories get erased and recovered.
Genres: autobiography, contemporary, biography-memoir, 21st-century, lgbt, academic
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, identity-crisis, personal-obsession
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
Hardcover · Virago