1. Jay B. Hubbell, The South In American Literature, 1607-1900

A rich and comprehensive presentation of Southern writers and their achievements from earliest colonial times to the eve of the 20th century.

2. Johnson Jones Hooper, Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs

Rollicking escapades on the Alabama frontier. A good starting place for the important literature of “Southwestern humour.”

3. Andrew Lytle, Stories: Alchemy and Others

Five stories from different periods of Southern history by one of the most important Southern writers of the 20th century.

4. Harriette Arnow, The Dollmaker

A moving story of a Kentucky mountain woman condemned to life in industrial Detroit.

5. Wendell Berry, The Memory of Old Jack

A good place to begin the reading of Berry’s many novels, stories, and poems about rural and small town life in Kentucky.

6. Fred Chappell, I Am One of You Forever: A Novel

A North Caroilna family on the eve of World War II, told inimitably with both realism and mystery.

7. William Faulkner, The Unvanquished

The courage and sufferings of Southern women and children in the War for Southern Independence and Reconstruction.

8. Caroline Gordon, Aleck Maury, Sportsman (Brown Thrasher Books)

This modestly titled story of a hunter and fisherman has been recognized as an epic account of Southern life.

9. Mary Johnston, The Long Roll

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10. Mary Johnston, Cease Firing

Realistic portrayal of the experiences of Virginia men and women in The War.

11. Grace King, Balcony Stories

New Orleans by its greatest writer.

12. Thomas Nelson Page, In Ole Virginia: Or, Marse Chan and Other Stories

Old Virginia before, during, and after The War.

13. Edgar Allen Poe, Complete Tales and Poems

The genius of the first great Southern (and American) creative writer, available in many versions.

14. Elizabeth Madox Roberts, The Time of Man: A Novel

A moving portrayal of poor Southerners wresting a living from the land.

15. Robert Ruark, The Old Man and the Boy

A boy learning the wisdom of life from his grandfather while growing up in coastal North Carolina.

16. William Gilmore Simms, Woodcraft

An unforgettable story of South Carolinians at the end of the Revolution. Perhaps a good place to begin reading Simms’s many novels and stories.

17. John W. Thomason, Jr., Lone Star Preacher

A Methodist preacher on the Texas frontier and with Hood’s brigade in The War.

18. Owen Wister, Lady Baltimore

The impoverished gentry of early 20th century Charleston portrayed in favourable contrast to the Northern rich, by the author of The Virginian.

19. Richard Adams, Traveller

An English writer tells the story of the War for Southern Independence through the experiences of its greatest horse, who was, after all, present at many great events.

20. Augusta Jane Evans Wilson, St. Elmo

The most popular book in America in the immediate post-bellum period. A tale of the South, loss and redemption.