The Tilted World, by Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly (2013)
This novel takes place in the fictional town of Hobnob Landing, Mississippi in 1927, during prohibition. The town is located on the Mississippi River and is protected by levees, which are strained due to the heavy rains and high-water levels.
Young Dixie Clay lives with her husband in the outskirts of town. She married young and soon found out that her handsome husband was not the man she thought he was. Soon after their marriage, she discovered that he was a bootlegger with a violent side. She perfected the recipe, and soon became known as making the best moonshine in the area. She was able to command high prices for her alcohol, which her husband sells.
When two Federal revenue agents go missing, two more are sent out to find them. One agent, Teddy Ingersoll, happens upon Dixie Clay and they begin a tentative friendship. He was unaware that she was making moonshine.
This is set against the background of the great Mississippi flood, which decimated the South. The town folk are preparing for the inevitable flood, and must decide whether to stay and sandbag the levees or breach the levees so that the City of New Orleans might be spared.
I enjoyed the first part of the book, but the last quarter seem a bit far fetched.
Read: July 19, 2023
3.5 Stars
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