The Tilted World: A Historical Thriller of Prohibition, Murder, and Unexpected Love in 1920s Mississippi

The Tilted World: A Historical Thriller of Prohibition, Murder, and Unexpected Love in 1920s Mississippi

In 1927, as rains swell the Mississippi, the river threatens to burst its banks and engulf everything in its path, including the tiny hamlet of Hobnob, where federal agents Ted Ingersoll and Ham Johnson arrive to investigate the disappearance of two fellow agents—and find a baby boy abandoned in the middle of a crime scene. Ingersoll finds a home for the infant with local woman Dixie Clay Holliver, unaware that she's the best bootlegger in the county and has many tender and consequential secrets of her own. The Tilted World is an extraordinary tale of murder and moonshine, sandbagging and saboteurs, and a man and a woman who find unexpected love. “The husband-and-wife writing team of Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly navigate the flood in their massive new novel The Tilted World . It is a masterful effort. Separately, the two have built quite a record. Franklin, who writes in the Rough South vein of the late Tim McLaurin and fellow Mississippian Larry Brown, is the author of a string of distinguished novels, including Hell at the Breech and Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter . Fennelly, an award-winning poet and essayist, heads the graduate creative writing program at the University of Mississippi. The Tilted World , however, makes the case that two heads can be better than one. . . . The result is a tale that deserves comparison to Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain , another literary novel with plenty of action.” - Wilmington Star News (NC) “Franklin and Fennelly distill in this prohibition-era tale of bootleggers and revenuers an atmospheric draught of prose that is at once poetic and gritty… Fans of Fennelly will savor her depictions of a mother’s ferocious love, and Franklin’s following will shine to the violent rendering of a nearly forgotten time and ethos.” - Publishers Weekly “The Tilted World is an exhilarating and epic novel from two of our most distinguished American writers, Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly, who handle unthinkable catastrophe, reckless behavior, and alarming pyrotechnics with grace and tenderness.” - John Dufresne, author of No Regrets, Coyote “The story is intricately plotted―a breath-catching thriller―but beyond that, it’s also a clean and lyrical narrative, thus producing a rare literary combo, one that tempts you to ration yourself to ten pages a night, and to tell your friends that it’s the real thing, a literary thriller, and to buy it and read it. . . . But thriller stories are easy to come by―as are small lyrical gems. The two come together in The Tilted World. The writing fits a multitude of nuances and effects. You will experience a sprawling story of conflict, disorder, shame, and horror that is umbrellaed by an even bigger story―one of love.” - Clyde Edgerton, Garden & Gun magazine “This enthralling novel, written by a husband and wife, both of whom are winners of literary prizes, is set against a background of the worst natural disaster America has ever endured . . . The landscape is brilliantly described, the major characters and the bit parts all spring to life vividly. . . . It is my tip to win a major literary prize.” - Jessica Mann, Literary Review “An epic tale of loyalty and betrayal that plays out in the shadows of the artificially heightened levees . . . the most satisfying aspect of the novel is the vivid characterization as Dixie and Ingersoll struggle to dovetail their respective interpretations of right and wrong.” - Irish Times “A swift, soulful mix of love story and crime saga . . . evocative characters and unpretentious but shapely prose . . . The Tilted World is literary crime fiction of the highest order.” - Seattle Times on The Tilted World “A swift, soulful mix of love story and crime saga . . . evocative characters and unpretentious but shapely prose . . . The Tilted World is literary crime fiction of the highest order.” - Seattle Times “Franklin and Fennelly tell their poignant tale of family and love, suffering and courage with a graceful pathos, using beautiful, poetic language. . . . [A] moving, exquisitely told historical novel about one of the country’s most destructive natural disasters.” - Shelf Awareness on The Tilted World “While The Tilted World is beautifully told from beginning to end, the memorable narration does not sacrifice the story of these star-crossed, erstwhile lovers whose entire world is on the brink of both salvation and tragedy. Franklin and Fennelly take the first two thirds of the book to set things up, and spend the last third pushing their readers to the edge of their seats. This is a strong, frightening and ultimately uplifting tale of redemption and justice that will not be easily forgotten.” - Bookreporter.com on The Tilted World “Thriller stories are easy to come by―as are small lyrical gems. The two come together in The Tilted World . . . . You will experience a sprawling story of conflict, disorder, shame, and horror that is umbrellaed by an even bigger story―one of love.” - Gar