Tovah Ott

A girl immerses herself in the strange, beautiful lives of her best friend’s family.Colleen is a short story from Halle Hill’s Good Women, which delves into the lives of twelve Black women across the Appalachian South. Darkly funny and deeply human,...

"A stunning slow burn brimming with observation, emotion, and incident.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review“A fantastic firecracker of a collection I'll return to again and again!” —Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church LadiesIn her...

A seventh-grade girl travels to south Alabama where her grandmother is being cared for by incapable extended family members. The mother is overwhelmed with grief. But the girl, busy with her own relationship troubles, witnesses something else...

Maudette works at the state fair. She hates her job, she hates what her mother does for a living, she hates the people in her town, especially one of her mother’s clients, a local deacon. Working the tilt-a-whirl one day, she begins to consider...

After the death of her father, a larger-than-life preacher, a young woman returns to her hometown to attend his funeral and to clean out his house without the help of his ex, her mother. When a family friend moves in under the premise of caring for...

A teenager is dragged by her beloved aunt to Weight Watchers and spirals toward harmful eating habits. Meanwhile, her dad is struggling with complications from diabetes, and her mom is escaping into the arms of someone unexpected.Hungry is a short...

A knock on the door interrupts the quiet lives of a middle-aged woman and her daughter.Keeping Noisettes is a short story from Halle Hill’s Good Women, which delves into the lives of twelve Black women across the Appalachian South. Darkly funny and...

A woman boards a Greyhound bus to Florida with her ailing sugar daddy on a long journey to meet his mother. In the middle of the night, in the middle of rural Georgia, another passenger disrupts her plan.Seeking Arrangements is a short story from...

A newlywed Christian couple is “trying” to have a baby when the wife books a solo vacation. In a cabin far from home, she contemplates if she wants a baby with her husband, considering the way his white family and friends treat her. When she...

A young woman who works admissions at a scam for-profit college is navigating the lies she sells for a living when she befriends an elderly applicant.The Best Years of Your Life is a short story from Halle Hill’s Good Women, which delves into the...

Dell gets an emergency call at work: Her best friend’s baby is due today, and something has gone terribly wrong. Speeding across town to beat anyone home, to take down the Welcome Home Baby signs, Dell finds herself revisiting the road that got them...

A young woman in therapy after committing an act of violence, goes dancing.The Truth About Gators is a short story from Halle Hill’s Good Women, which delves into the lives of twelve Black women across the Appalachian South. Darkly funny and deeply...