Samantha Jayne Allen has an MFA in fiction from Texas State University. Her writing has been published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, The Common, and Electric Literature. Raised in small towns in Texas and California, she now lives with her husband in Atlanta.
Pay Dirt Road is Allen's debut novel.
At CrimeReads she tagged "seven excellent crime meets coming-of-age novels," including:
The House Uptown by Melissa GinsburgRead about another entry on the list.
I loved Ginsburg’s writing style and it was no surprise for me to learn that she is also a poet. The novel is about fourteen-year-old Ava, who after the death of her mother goes to live with her grandmother, Lane, in New Orleans. Lane is an eccentric, talented painter, and in addition to tracking Ava’s coming-of-age, the novel follows Lane’s loosening grip on reality and the explosive secret she’s been keeping finally coming to light. There’s a nod to Flannery O’Connor in the book, and there’s something in Ginsburg’s telling, too, that perfectly captures the inevitability of a violent reckoning.
Q&A with Melissa Ginsburg.
The Page 69 Test: The House Uptown.
--Marshal Zeringue
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