The Alabama Writers’ Forum
The Alabama Writers’ Forum, a partnership program of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, works to cultivate our state’s literary culture. We do that through supporting writers at all stages. We encourage our young writers to find their creative voice through the Father Goose Poetry Festival for Kids!–and through our Alabama High School Literary Arts Awards. We support the work of our state’s literary community through our Alabama Authors Directory, First Draft magazine, and other programming and opportunities for writers across the state. And we celebrate our state’s rich literary legacy through the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame. We are, above all, a community of writers united by our desire to advance the literary arts in Alabama. If that describes you — join us! There are many ways to get involved.
The Road to Tender Hearts
The Road to Tender Hearts By Annie Hartnett Ballantine Books, 2025 Hardcover: $29.00 Genre: Fiction Reviewed by Edward Journey Annie Hartnett’s third novel, The Road to Tender Hearts, is a heartfelt tale of family dynamics and dysfunction. Whether intentional or not, the book’s jacket illustration brings to mind the 2006 movie, Little Miss Sunshine; the comparison is apt since both that film and this book explore the discoveries and travails of a family road trip. Hartnett’s story is generously woven, chronicling heartbreak and hilarity. PJ Halliday, the 63-year-old winner of a $1.5 million lottery a decade ago, lives in the small Massachusetts town of Pondville, just down the road from his ex-wife Ivy and her partner, Fred, who is PJ’s best friend and soon-to-be Ivy’s husband. Ivy and Fred look after PJ, who has breakfast with them every morning, reading morning papers in which Ivy has carefully excised any bad news about children and animals, which PJ can’t take. Ivy and PJ’s oldest daughter, Kate, died tragically on the night of her high school prom, a pain that PJ deals with by excessive drinking. Kate’s loss led to the dissolution of their marriage. Ivy and PJ’s surviving daughter, Sophie, is aloof, dealing with personal demons of her own. Two blocks away, two children, Ollie and Luna Mecklin, are orphaned in a murder-suicide, leading to the discovery that they are PJ’s grandnephew and grandniece by his [...]
