Lydia Peelle: 10 books

In "The Still Point", Lydia Peelle tells the story of a man stuck in the routine of life while traveling with a carnival.

Set in a small town in rural Georgia, this poignant story unfolds a disappointing love affair between a 22-year old girl from the North and a man twice her age haunted by the ghosts of the South.

Two restless young girls in "Sweethearts of the Rodeo" live out their last summer of innocence, riding ponies recklessly and spying on their boss.

The Whiting Award—winning author of the story collection Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing delivers her enchanting debut novel, set in 1916 Tennessee: a rich and rewarding tale of two flawed yet endearing grifters who pursue women, wealth, and a surprisingly valuable commodity for the troops...

With this first book of fiction, a gifted young writer brings together eight superbly crafted stories that peer deeply into the human heart, exploring lives derailed by the loss of a vital connection to the land and to the natural world of which they are a part. "Mule Killers" evokes...

"Mule Killers" evokes the end of an era and of a grandfather's dreams when he decides to replace animal power with tractors on his farm.

In "Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing", a young woman becomes fascinated with reptiles and finds a way to relate them to her life.

The narrator of "Shadow on a Weary Land" imagines the many lives that have been lived over the years on Brown's Ridge—from the teeming wildlife that once roamed the land to Jesse and Frank James, who settled there, to the farmers recently pushed out by the imminent rise of a housing development....

In "Kidding Season", a young man named Charlie gets caught up living at a farm for a few months, an experience more important than he expected.

In "Phantom Pain," the Tennessee woods are a sliver of what they once were, where men now hunt with GPS and cell phones, and the rumor of a dangerous panther on the loose stirs up a small town.