Helpful Score: 1
I'm always wary of books claimed to be the next To Kill A Mockingbird, since I haven't found a book yet that can match that classic, but The Queen of Palmyra comes close. Perhaps its best feature is the way that none of the events in the book are toned-down or sugar-coated, a fact which makes for difficult reading but a rich story. The characters are well-developed and as in all good Southern literature the sense of place is wonderfully rich. No, this isn't To Kill A Mockingbird, but it's a great, if emotionally difficult, read in its own right.
