ARC Review The Tilted World by Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly

The Tilted World: A Novel by Tom Franklin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book through first-reads in exchange for a fair review.
Sadly, I am not familiar with the flood of 1927. Very sad when you consider I have a masters degree in American History - I cannot recall ever discussing one of the largest natural disasters even in American history and one that had a profound impact on the migration of African-Americans to northern cities. My lack of knowledge of this pivotal event made me very interested in in this novel and I was not disappointed.

Dixie Clay is the wife of a bootlegger, lonely, mourning the loss of her only child and doing what it takes to keep her husband happy. Jessie, her husband is a charming, violent, philanderer who is suspected of killing two federal revenue agents. Ted Ingersoll, a revenue agent, and his partner Ham Johnson are sent by Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover to investigate the disappearance of the two agents while posing as engineers monitoring the levee in Hobnob, Mississippi. On their way to Hobnob the two agents come across a burglary gone wrong, in which a baby is orphaned. Ingersoll, an orphan himself, is charged with taking the baby to a local orphanage but instead he finds Dixie Clay and she cannot resist the chance to be a mother again. The levees at Hobnob are about to burst and word comes from Hoover that saboteurs have stolen dynamite and plan to blow the levees in an attempt to save New Orleans. As the levees breach there banks secrets are revealed and everybody's lives are on the brink of great change.

This is a beautifully written book that has all the components of great fiction, action, mystery, romance, moral dilemmas, rich characters and a great plot. Written by a husband and wife team, a fiction writer and poet, respectively, this novel flows beautifully and contains descriptions that make you feel as though you are there witnessing the stills, flood and relationship development between characters.

This is a novel that is hard to put down and once you finish leaves you wanting more. I recommend that anyone with an interest in natural disasters, prohibition, and 1920s history check this novel out, well really everyone should check this novel out - its a great entertaining read.


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