Susan Straight

Susan Straight is an American novelist and essayist who has earned critical acclaim for her vivid portrayals of Southern California's inland communities. Her novel "Highwire Moon" was a National Book Award finalist in 2001, establishing her as a significant voice in contemporary American literature. Based in Riverside, California, Straight has published eight novels, including "Aquaboogie," "I Been in Sorrow's Kitchen and Licked Out All the Pots," and "Between Heaven and Here." Her work often explores themes of race, family, and community in California's diverse inland regions, drawing from her deep connections to the area where she has lived her entire life. A Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside, Straight co-founded the university's MFA program in Creative Writing & Writing for the Performing Arts. Her writing regularly appears in major publications such as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Harper's Magazine, where she contributes essays and articles on culture, literature, and society. Through her literary career spanning from 1990 to the present, Straight has received numerous honors including the Lannan Literary Award and the Edgar Award for Best Short Story. Her short fiction has been featured in prestigious collections such as The Best American Short Stories, further cementing her position in contemporary American letters.

Readers appreciate Straight's detailed portrayal of working-class life in California's Inland Empire and her focus on multiracial families and communities. Her novel "Highwire Moon" receives praise for its mother-daughter story and authentic depiction of Mexican immigrant experiences. Several readers note her ability to write about difficult topics without sentimentality. Common criticisms include slow pacing, particularly in "Between Heaven and Here" and "Mecca." Some readers find her prose style dense and her narratives hard to follow when she switches between multiple perspectives. Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: - Highwire Moon: 3.9/5 (500+ ratings) - Mecca: 3.8/5 (400+ ratings) - A Million Nightingales: 3.7/5 (300+ ratings) Amazon: - Highwire Moon: 4.3/5 - Mecca: 4.4/5 Reader quote: "She captures California's hidden communities with unflinching honesty" - Goodreads review Critical note: "Beautiful writing but moves too slowly for my taste" - Amazon review

Aquaboogie (1990) Interconnected stories set in the fictional Rio Seco, California, depicting the lives of African American residents navigating love, loss, and community.

I Been in Sorrow's Kitchen and Licked Out All the Pots (1992) Chronicles the journey of Marietta Cook, a tall, strong Gullah woman from South Carolina, as she makes her way to Los Angeles in the 1960s.

Blacker Than a Thousand Midnights (1994) Follows firefighter Darnell Tucker's struggle to build a life in Rio Seco while facing racial tensions and personal challenges.

The Gettin Place (1996) Explores three generations of an African American family defending their homestead in Rio Seco during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Highwire Moon (2001) Traces the parallel lives of an undocumented Mexican mother and her American-born daughter after their forced separation.

A Million Nightingales (2006) Set in early 19th-century Louisiana, narrates the story of a mixed-race slave girl named Marie-Therese Metty.

Between Heaven and Here (2012) Examines the aftermath of a young woman's murder in the troubled neighborhood of Rio Seco.

In the Country of Women (2019) A memoir detailing the stories of the strong women in Straight's family and her husband's African American family across generations.

Helena María Viramontes creates narratives about Mexican-American communities in California, focusing on working class families and social justice themes. Her novels "Their Dogs Came with Them" and "Under the Feet of Jesus" explore similar territory to Straight's work in terms of California's immigrant experiences and familial bonds.

Ana Castillo writes about Chicana experiences and family relationships in the American Southwest through multiple genres including novels and poetry. Her work "So Far from God" and "Peel My Love Like an Onion" share Straight's interest in complex family dynamics and regional American storytelling.

Dorothy Allison examines working-class life and family relationships in the American South through her fiction and memoirs. Her books "Bastard Out of Carolina" and "Cavedweller" parallel Straight's focus on regional American experiences and mother-daughter relationships.

Louise Erdrich chronicles multi-generational Native American family stories set in the Upper Midwest through interconnected novels. Her work shares Straight's commitment to place-based storytelling and examination of family bonds across generations.

Barbara Kingsolver writes about family relationships and social issues in settings ranging from the American Southwest to Appalachia. Her novels "The Bean Trees" and "Pigs in Heaven" demonstrate similar attention to regional American communities and mother-daughter relationships that appear in Straight's work.