Low Country

In a haunting, lyrical narrative, journalist Jones depicts the history of her family, set against the backdrop of South Carolina. Interspersing stories of the ghosts who haunt the South Carolina Low Country and skeletons from her family’s past, Jones crafts a gothic setting for a literary memoir, while maintaining an invitingly informal narrative voice. With a series of vivid snapshots, she charts the rise of her family’s wealth as they acquired beachfront properties, as well as the hidden tolls of domestic violence and drug abuse. The author’s writing shines when recounting memories of spending days and nights at her grandmother’s house, as well as stories of Jones’s father who tries to break (although he does not always succeed) the cycle of violence that he experienced from his own father. Threaded throughout are stories of the infamous pirates and long-suffering women who gave the Low Country its ghost story–rich history.