Where the Roots Tangle: Odessa Blaine with Robert Gwaltney & Ann Hite

Join the Georgia Center for the Book for an evening celebrating Where the Roots Tangle, a new novel by Odessa Blaine full of hardscrabble Southern living, small town politics, blood feuds, nearly forgotten folkways, family legacy, and a dash of Appalachia magic. Blaine will be in conversation with Robert Gwaltney and Ann Hite.

This event will be in the Auditorium of Decatur Library, on the Ground Floor. Due to new security protocols, guests must enter the building through the upper level, rear doors, and then take the elevator to "G." Elevators open at 6:30. Please arrive early to ensure extra time for security.

About the Book: 

Edwina's shaky world is rocked by the murder of a childhood friend on a sweltering Georgia day in 1929. War erupts between the fed-up poor folks of Shine Town and Edy's in-laws, the old money Jacksons of Canes Crossin. Edwina and her sister are trapped in the middle. Growing up Shine Town trash with their single mother, Edwina and Josephine knew about hard living. Then Beauregard Jackson planted a prized baby boy in Edy’s sister. Their mother was thrilled to see Jo marry up. Beau’s family was livid. The Jacksons were rumored to own everything in the valley and then some. Ruling from the family’s plantations, they clung to bygone ways and enforced their will. Until hubris made them vulnerable. Edy spent years reconciling love for her sister and hatred of the Jacksons. Jealousy, loneliness, adoration, and defiance warred inside her. The fragile balance crumbles when her mother vanishes, she’s forced to abandon Jo, and Shine Town turns on her. She turns to the mountains for answers, but finds more confusion when Edy stumbles into the remnants of a people more ancient than memory. They offer an escape,but she can't leave her sister behind. Tripping over prejudice, secrets, and uncertainty, can Edy get out of her own way and save the folks she cares about before Jackson greed gets them all killed? Get tangled up in hardscrabble Southern living, small town politics, blood feuds, nearly forgotten folkways, family legacy, and a dash of Appalachia magic.

About the Author:

Aspiring cryptid and general oddment, Odessa Blaine haunts the north Georgia mountains. She’s farm raised and steeped in Southern traditions, folklore, and history. When she’s not haunting the woods or performing stories, Odessa spends her time volunteering for nonprofit organizations and encouraging others to embrace their superpowers.

About the Conversation Partners:

Robert Gwaltney, a recipient of the 2022 Pat Conroy Writers Residency, was named 2023 Georgia Author of the Year for his debut novel, The Cicada Tree. He resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where he is an active member of the Atlanta literary community serving as a board member for Broadleaf Writers Association. Robert’s work has appeared in such publications as Southbound Magazine, Southern Literary Review, The Blue Mountain Review, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. His new novel, Sing Down The Moon, which has been awarded the Somerset Award for Literary and Contemporary Fiction, was be published by Mercer University Press in the Spring of 2026.

Ann Hite has written six novels and two nonfiction books. Her short story collection, HAINTS ON BLACK MOUNTAIN, was the bronze winner in the 2022 Foreword Indies Book Awards. She has been shortlisted for the Townsend Prize and nominated for the Pushcart. And she has been awarded Georgia Author of the Year. Her passion for history and Appalachia heavily influences her writing. Her latest book with Mercer University Press is I Am a Georgia Girl, The Life of Lucille Selig Frank.