In the Heart of Texas: A Novel [Paperback]

Named a “Top Pick” by RT Book Reviews
Named a “Fall Must-Read” by RedbookMag.com * PopSugar * Parade Magazine * Brit + Co * SoulCycle
Hailed as a “Best Fiction Book by Women of Color” at Bustle.com
Pitched as “a poor man’s Halle Berry,” forty-one-year-old soap star Jo Randolph, has successfully avoided waiting tables since she left Midland, Texas at eighteen. But then, in the span of twenty-four hours, Jo manages to lose her job, burn her bridges in Hollywood, and accidentally burn down her lover/director’s beach house—after which she is shipped home to Texas by her agent to stay out of sight while she sorts out her situation.
The more Jo reluctantly reconnects with her Texas “roots” and the family and friends she left behind, the more she regains touch with herself as an artist and with what is meaningful in life beyond the limelight. The summer of 2007 is cathartic for Jo, whose career and lifestyle have allowed her to live like a child for forty years, but who now must transition to making grown-up decisions and taking on adult responsibilities.In the Heart of Texasis a wry, humorous commentary on the complexities of race, class, relationships, politics, popular culture, and celebrity in our current society.A native of Dallas, Texas, Ginger McKnight-Chavers is a graduate of Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and Harvard Law School. She was a Kathryn Gurfein Writing Fellow at Sarah Lawrence College and her debut novel,In the Heart of Texas, will be released in Fall 2016 by She Writes Press. McKnight-Chavers currently blogs for the Huffington Post and The TexPatch, and she lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband, daughter, and an overweight West Highland White Terrier.“A laugh-out-loud look at growing up at any age told with honesty and warmth.”
—Books & Life

“Funny, smart and compulsively readablel#%