• Author Suzy Barile, a descendant of Buncombe county native David Swain (NC governor and then UNC president during the Civil War) recently published Undaunted Heart: The True Story of a Southern Belle & a Yankee General. “When a brigade of General Sherman’s victorious army marched into Chapel Hill the day after Easter 1865, the Civil War had just ended and President Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated. Citizens of the picturesque North Carolina college town had endured years of hardship and sacrifice, and now the Union army was patrolling its streets. One of Sherman’s young generals paid a visit to the stately home of David Swain, president of the University of North Carolina and a former governor of the state, to inform him that the town was now under Union occupation,” reads press for the book.
• Another fortuitous heritage: Jean Boone Benfield, a descendant of Daniel Boone’a brother Israel, is set to release Mountain Born: A Recollection of Life and Language in Western North Carolina on May 1. According to press, “In Mountain Born she shares her remembrances of rural life during the 1940s and 1950s post-WWII in and around Asheville.” Local readings include Malaprop’s (55 Haywood St., Asheville, 254-6734) on Saturday, May 1, 7 p.m. and at the Leicester Library (1561 Alexander Rd., Leicester, 250-6480) on Tuesday, June 8, 7 p.m.
• Though the local event for Love in Mid Air by Charlotte-based author Kim Wright has already happened, the book is still available and promises to be a great read. People Magazine gave the book 3.5 stars. Hatchette Book Group describes it as, “A chance encounter with a stranger on an airplane sends Elyse Bearden into an emotional tailspin. Suddenly Elyse is willing to risk everything: her safe but stale marriage, her seemingly perfect life in an affluent Southern suburb, and her position in the community. She finds herself cutting through all the instincts that say “no” and instead lets “yes” happen. As Elyse embarks on a risky affair, her longtime friend Kelly and the other women in their book club begin to question their own decisions about love, sex, marriage, and freedom.”
—Alli Marshall, A&E reporter
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