Starlings, Cats, and Wiregrass

 The room was full to the point where no seats were available, fans were anxiously awaiting their new favorite authors to read excerpts from their most recent works, and the authors looked somewhat nervous. On Friday, March 18, three authors, Nine de Garmont, Ed Tarkington, and Pam Webber, gathered for a Virginia Festival of the Book.

“I’m sorry if I sound dramatic. I’m sort of nervous” says de Gramont as she reads the first chapter of her new book, The Last September. De Gramont is from North Carolina and is a professor at UNC Wilmington. The excerpt from The Last September was chilling, however it was almost addictive.  De Gramont has also written Gossip of the Starlings, and Of Cats and Men: Stories.

Ed Tarkington is the author of Only Love Can Break Your Heart. This is Tarkington’s first novel and it even includes little glimpses of Charlottesville.  Only Love Can Break Your Heart is comical, but it’s a rather mature comical. It has somewhat of a Southern charm to it.

Pam Webber’s novel The Wiregrass has been compared to works of the late Harper Lee. The Wiregrass is filled with humor and the excerpt that Webber read made everyone in the room laugh.  The Wiregrass felt how coming of age books should feel. This is Webber’s first novel, however she has also co-authored three editions of nursing textbooks.