Alana White

John Seigenthaler, Host, WNPT’s “A Word on Words:” This anthology is a testament that Williamson County (Tennessee) is a place that nurtures—no, treasures—the written word. These authors reflect a culture that tells us how important it is to keep reading.”


Stories from Gathering range from Civil War to Civil Rights; from a hippie flower-child in olive drab fatigues to a pale-face Indian girl in a chicken-feather band; from a puzzling palsy in a convent to prized contraband in a consignment shop; from a matriarch’s front-porch secrets to a patriarch’s final trip to the filling station; from a sapient farm boy whose sunsets are two cornfields away from his sunrises to a sassy, spiky-heeled senior who trails pickle juice from a diner’s dills stashed in her purse. The stories are rich in qualities readers treasure in the best Southern literature: a sense of character and place; an appreciation of language, humor, and tradition; a love of the land. Gathering travels well beyond the borders of Williamson County.