North Carolina Author’s Novel Offers More Than Heart-breaking Drama
Novel makes references to North Carolina’s culture and attractions, historical events, literature, and 1990’s pop culture.
Margaret Garrison’s first novel Prez: A Love Story (Abbott Press, 2014) deals with romance, family devotion, and spiritual grace, all of which are interwoven throughout the plot that involves a female university chancellor (nicknamed “Prez” by one of the characters), who battles a critical illness and loads of personal and workplace issues.
Readers will readily sympathize with the main character as she weathers the storm (literally and figuratively). The story’s fast-paced development, rich first-person narration, strong dialogue between characters, and explosive drama will sustain their interest as they flip the pages. Moreover, readers
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She takes them to explore the state’s most famous universities (Duke and UNC); the Piedmont region; and some towns and cities of the Tar Heel State. She also invites her readers to experience North Carolina’s food culture and traditions.
The novel also offers readers a look into the major events of the past, one of which is the hurricane that havocked North Carolina and its neighbors in 1989, and this event factors much in the plot of the novel. There are also references to the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany; the Desert Storm which is about to unfold in the Middle East; and the presidency of George H. W. Bush. Garrison introduces readers to a world that is not digitally connected yet: a world without Internet, smartphones, and social media. Anyone in their late 30s reading the novel will reminisce the good old times.
Prez: A Love Story is also rife with references to old TV shows and movies; classical literature such as Moby Dick and Pride and Prejudice); and lines from the poetry of Emily Dickinson, the favorite poet of the main