SOUTHERN STOCK

Elliott’s novel, set in 1950s Appalachia, follows a rebellious teen from a family of bootleggers who chases a dream of becoming a self-made race-car driver.

The book was apparently inspired, in part, by the creation of NASCAR, whose first drivers operated cars that had been souped up specifically to avoid law enforcement. In 1950, 16-year-old Gene Daves of Lawndale, North Carolina, has long been involved in illegal alcohol trade, and he’s a skilled driver and car enthusiast. The story flourishes with vivid regional detail of backwoods junkyards, red clay tracks, and swampland moonshine stills as its determined protagonist transforms over the years from a local outlaw to a rising racing star known as “Stick Elliott.” Later, he becomes involved with the daughter of his driving sponsor, who “saw him not only for who he was—a man living in the fast lane, swerving in and out of people’s lives—but for the man he wanted to be.” As the plot brims with Gene’s outlaw spirit and mechanical grit, the prose leans more into energy than introspection—even when more emotional depth would be welcome. The pacing is brisk, giving readers a taste of the regional setting, and the supporting cast includes a mix of tough mentors, rogue rivals, and eccentric types. The story feels lived in, even when the characters feel more like archetypes than real people. Overall, the tale, while simple, is about generational tension at its heart: a young man chasing modern fame under the watchful eye of a grandfather who values tradition over everything else. The novel even dips into mythmaking with recurring images that symbolize deeper themes, such as python boots (“Do you know anything about pythons in Greek mythology?” asks the man who sells such footwear to Gene) and ghostly churches in the swamp. This gives the story’s rugged realism a dreamlike sheen. Fans of car culture and Southern history, along with those who can’t help but root for the underdog, will find plenty to love.

A gritty, atmospheric debut, told with all the bravado of its moonshine-running hero.