Mary Morony, Author of Apron Strings, Done Growed Up and If It Ain't One Thing

Southern Fried Fiction, Mary Morony

 

Southern Novelist, Mary Morony, delivers a tour de force of honest characters, lively humor, and painful tragedy. She writes her novels in a candid voice, refusing to sugarcoat the overt racism and making it clear that a small family in Virginia won’t change the bullheaded beliefs of others.  Mary brings Southern charm, irreverence, and wit to bear on subjects as vast as racism and as personal as alcoholism. She consistently writes about life experiences, complex issues, funny observations, and sometimes even ridiculous topics right here on THIS WEBSITE. If you don’t want to miss a moment to be entertained, inspired, or otherwise amused – please sign up for updates HERE.

 

IfItAintOneThingCoverIf It Ain’t One Thing… book 3 in the Apron Strings Trilogy

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One of the best things about this latest novel is it is set almost fifty years later than the first two. Besides most of the original characters, there is a whole new generation of Mackeys, plus in-laws and outlaws.

The gang’s all here, for the most part, and are all gearing up for the wedding of the century. Sallee’s self-centered and petulant daughter, Virginia, wants a Christmas wedding with every bell, whistle and gem-encrusted ornament. Burning up Sallee’s American Express card at every turn, Virginia has also decided on the perfect venue for her nuptials – her grandparents, Joe and Ginny’s place. Though a huge undertaking, the Mackey’s seem a more concerned with the fact that they know very little about the impending groom.

 

Learn more about If It Ain’t One Thing… HERE

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 Done Growed Up, book 2 in the Apron Strings Trilogy

 

Addiction, divorce, racism, and the horrors of puberty have knocked Sallee Mackey on her ear.  Her family is broken.  The only calm in the storm is Ethel, the maid; the heart, soul, and inspiration in the Mackey household.  Ethel’s skin color seems to make her unworthy in the eyes of other authority figures in Sallee’s life. How many different women will her father bring into their lives and which ones are important?  Why is Sallee’s older sister so moody and mean and why is her brother sent into a rage by the slightest thing? How does a young girl accept that her alcoholic mother can’t seem to think of anything but herself?

Learn more about Done Growed Up HERE

 

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Mary Morony’s first Novel, Apron Strings

 

 

Complex and multi-layered, “Apron Strings,” the first novel in the series, is a deftly written and compelling read from beginning to end and is both up-lifting and tragic. Mary Morony creates word portraits of her characters and crafts her stories masterfully. Apron Strings is a powerful, touching and funny novel in the vein of To Kill A Mockingbird, Fried Green Tomatoes and The Help. A story of love and bigotry, family and the people who love us, author Mary Morony shares a story based on her own Southern childhood and the lives of the people around her. Apron Strings, set in the Charlottesville in the 1950’s during a turbulent time where racism and love collide and huge gaps exist in the lives of everyone involved. More than just a story about racism, this is also a story about substance abuse and the abuse of people and power to try to fill the holes left in lives by hate and anger.

 

GET A SNEAK PEEK OF APRON STRINGS HERE OR PURCHASE APRON STRINGS NOW!

READER REVIEWS

Great read! This book has so much heart. Sallee’s adventures and witty commentary keep you entertained and the pages turning but it’s the honest portrayal of human sentiment that makes this book so great. I laughed, I cried, I went through the gamut of emotions from cover to cover and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I would highly recommend to any and everyone!

Southern Storytelling at its best!

The Perfect Read!

Mary Morony’s superbly written, Apron Strings, brought back lost memories of Virginia’s late 50’s/early 60’s…Especially rich is the storyline between seven year old Sallee and Ethel, the family’s maid…So well written, I could actually “hear” their dialogue and I thanked the heavens for the safe haven Ethel tried to provide Sallee from the all too many dysfunctional adults…I smil… Read more

Mackie

A white Virginian family in the late 1950s struggles to stay together while enduring a failing marriage and racist neighbors in Morony’s debut historical drama. For the Mackey family, 1957 changed everything, at least according to 7-year-old Sallee. Morony writes in a candid voice, refusing to sugarcoat the overt racism and making it clear that a small family in Virginia won’t change the bullheade… Read more

Kirkus Reviews

     . . .First, your time lapses were very good—well-placed, enabling the reader to fill in what might have been difficult personality development.  You didn’t merely tell, you showed.  I particularly found it helpful to know the child rearing, or lack thereof, styles of the domestic help versus the parents of Ginny.  It was logical that Ginny turned out the way she did with no brake fr… Read more

Chris Shepherd

Thoughtful and deeply moving, Apron Strings is the debut novel from author Mary Morony. A tale told through the eyes of Sallee and the answers she solicits from Ethel, Morony delivers a masterful narrative that is both beguiling and flawlessly executed. With a meticulous ear for dialogue Morony’s diction is simply exquisite, effortlessly capturing the cultural identities of her leading character… Read more

Book Viral Review

What a wonderful installment of this charming story! So often the story lulls in the middle of trilogies, NOT SO HERE as Morony does a fantastic job of keeping the plot moving and the reader connected and engaged with the characters, it’s hard for your fingers to keep up turning the pages. I can’t wait to see where life takes The Mackeys next! Highly recommend!!

Book Lover

I know that you were portraying the very real love between a black housekeeper and her white family. But you were also portraying the everyday tragedy of human beings coping with their personal limitations and the prejudices (not just racial) of the people around them. We are prisoners of ourselves. But there is hope. And Ethel provides us hope in the end by being inspired and taking responsibilit… Read more

Gayle Engbrecht

Wonderful, Captivating, applauds to Mary Moroney!!

Wonderful prose clearly depicting the place and times. The character development was done so well, you wanted to reach out and hug the children, as well as shake some sense into the mother!!

Ann Marie Harmon

… What I like best about the story, however, is the sense of place and time that ever so subtly seems to be catalyst, if not cause, of the decline of Joe, Ginny, and their marriage. And of course, you know that I remember how palpable race was every day in every way in the pre-Lyndon Johnson South of my childhood and adolescence. It really is wonderful how different your portrayal of black-white r… Read more

James W. CunninghamUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Virginia author Mary Marony is a Southern humanist who stepped onto the literary stage with an exceptionally elegant and deeply meaningful debut novel, APRON STRINGS. She lived in the South during the times about which she writes, waited until later in life to embrace her higher education by earning an degree in English form the University of Virginia, and then turned her personal history into an … Read more

Grady Harp, Vine Voice

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