Exiled South Book Reviews

Exiled South captures the sweetness of second starts and finding lost family. Cannon’s detailed descriptions of the South Carolina coast are enchanting, and lovers of the American South and Southern History will appreciate the intricately conceived family history and timeline. The novel’s focus on family history will especially appeal to readers who appreciate genealogy and heritage stories.
— Lainey Cameron, author of The Exit Strategy

Some secrets never die. The events of a long-awaited journey of self-discovery forever alter Lizbeth Gordon’s view of marriage, betrayal, and her own family’s rumored slave-holding history. Exiled South is a tale of courage and reckoning, of a woman’s life turned upside down and then righted, or righted enough, a story whose pages will not stop turning because Lizbeth  will not let them.
— Mary Lou Sanelli, Author of Every Little Thing

Harriet Cannon’s novel Exiled South rips the cover off traditional Southern sagas and takes you on a riveting international journey across a century, exploring the hidden trauma and deep wounds of three generations of one family following the Civil War. Hats off to Cannon for her bold and exciting new work in a field of multicultural relationships that she knows well. The story Cannon tells reveals that we are all connected in ways we least expect.
— Eleanor McCallie Cooper, author of Dragonfly Dreams and Grace in China.

Harriet Cannon has created the rich, textured portrait of a woman caught between her family’s mysterious (possibly stained) past and a tumultuous, sometimes tragic, present. Cannon constructs a mesmerizing emotional geography for her protagonist, Lizbeth Gordon, a woman determined to fully discover—and to ultimately come to terms with—her ancestral history, while simultaneously navigating her new, unexpected life as a widow and ex-patriate. Cannon’s settings are wonderfully hypnotic—you can almost smell the pluff mud of the South Carolina Lowcountry or hear the strains of “The Girl From Ipanema wafting over a warm, Rio de Janeiro beach. Lizbeth Gordon is a memorable character on a remarkable journey, and we’re invited to accompany her. And we’re damn lucky to have a writer like Harriet Cannon as our guide.
— Scott Gould, Creative Writing Department, S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities, Author of The Whereabouts, and Things That Crash and Things that Fly

When Lizbeth Gordon leaves the Pacific Northwest for the sunshine of a South Carolina beach, she’s seeking peace, comfort, and a way to put her life back together.  Unexpectedly, her new location gives her the chance to investigate family history filled with fascinating details about life under siege in Civil War Charleston and the tough post-war choices faced by survivors. EXILED SOUTH deftly explores the ways that decisions in the past impact lives in the present. Be sure to check it out for great book club discussions.
— Rebecca Hodge, award winning author of Wildlands and Over the Falls.

This lively, engaging debut novel transports the reader from the Pacific Northwest to South Carolina, Scotland, and on to Brazil as it follows a twenty-first century woman who discovers some riveting family secrets. Her blockade running ancestor’s acts of courage during the American Civil War, led to devastating consequences she hopes to mend.
— Josh Dean, Author of The Taking of K-129

“Exiled South is a delightful read. It tells the story of Lizbeth Gordon, forced by tragedy to return to her Southern roots, where she discovers the family history she never knew. The tidbits she uncovers intrigues her and changes the trajectory of her life.
— Wendy Hinman, author of Tightwads on the Loose and Sea Trials: Around the World with duct Tape and Bailing Wire