The allure of the Southern Gothic

I always find myself somewhat mystified by southern gothic novels. The first one I was lucky enough to read was They Tell Me of A Home by Daniel Black. I feel as if this genre of literature resonates with me as a southerner (you've probably heard me say this in class before) because of the characters, their plight, their development, the setting and other components of the literature. With Salvage the Bones, I found myself reading Esch's childhood and also flashing back to my own during the months before Katrina. I felt like Manny in the first chapter, young, so sure that the hurricane would just be another one of the meteorologists failed prediction. Both Manny and I shared the same security about our homes being there after the turmoil. I believe it was our youthfulness that blinded both him and I to how severe this really was. I saw my father in Esch's father, boarding up the windows, being somewhat distant because of concerns for preparation for Katrina. Rarely do I ever have connections with characters like this, it could be the fact that both the characters and I experienced Katrina. However, I do believe that the experience alone is what connected me to these characters, it comes back to the Gothic style of writing this book uses. It writes about these under represented cast of characters that aren't seen in literature often and through a lens not often explored. It does so in a way that makes a fictitious story come alive to the reader in an authentic way. Overall, I loved the book and might have to somehow get this copy autographed.