Reviews & Praise

BRASS ANKLE BLUES:

"Rachel Harper's fierce debut is a tender, passionate, and moving read. A clear window onto a world rarely seen in contemporary fiction."

— Shay Youngblood,
author of Soul Kiss

"I am very impressed by this first novel... Simple, clean and direct—my credo for good writing... She has an excellent eye for the most minute details... I hope many people will get a chance to read this book..."

— Ernest J. Gaines,
author of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and A Lesson Before Dying

"I enjoyed reading this remarkable first novel. A contemporary novel in the great traditions... American landscape, American character, American heroine... intelligent, eloquent, lyrical... all the elements of fine writing."

— Gayl Jones,
author of Corregidora and The Healing

"With a deftness of touch that can arise only from hard-won wisdom, BRASS ANKLE BLUES transfigures the journey from innocence to experience in pure lyric tenderness. This is an extraordinary novel."

— Ronald A. Sharp,
Dean of the Faculty, Vassar College
Former Editor, The Kenyon Review

"Rachel M. Harper's fine novel... is told with a discerning eye for detail and wry humor."

— Curtis Harnack,
author of We Have All Gone Away and Love and Be Silent