Get ready to laugh! Elizabeth Bass Parman is a true Southern storyteller. I
couldn’t have loved it more.” —Fannie Flagg, New York Times bestselling
Posey Jarvis knows she’s the rightful empress of Cooke County . . . She just
needs to make everyone else realize it too.
Thirty-eight-year-old Posey Jarvis is the self-appointed “empress” of rural Spark in
Cooke County, Tennessee. She spends her days following every word about her idol
and look-alike Jackie Kennedy, avoiding her stalwart husband Vern, and struggling to
control her newly defiant daughter Callie Jane—all while sneaking nips of gin. When
Posey unexpectedly inherits a derelict mansion from her quirky old aunt Milbrey, she
finagles her way into hosting her high school’s twentieth reunion there. She cares
nothing about seeing her classmates, but she cares deeply about seeing the love of her
life, a man who dumped her nineteen years ago. Possums are nesting in the parlor and
the stench of cat urine permeates the sunroom, but she must be ready for the big day,
even if she has to do the work herself.
Eighteen-year-old Callie Jane finds herself accidentally engaged and is panicking about
her fast-approaching wedding. She’s also had enough of her domineering mother. Even
though she loves her father, the idea of working at his emporium for the rest of her life
just makes her . . . so sad. She longs to escape from her mother, her job, her
upcoming wedding, and the creepy Peeping Tom terrorizing the town. She dreams of
leaving everything she’s ever known in her rearview mirror and starting over in
California. But when her life has been mapped out for her from birth, how can she
break free?
Set in a gossipy small town during the turbulent 1960s and full of Southern charm and
unforgettable characters, The Empress of Cooke County is a novel about found family,
what it means to be loved, and how being true to yourself can have life-altering
consequences.
1. Southern women’s fiction
2. Stand-alone novel
3. Book length: approximately 82,000 words
4. Includes discussion questions for book clubs
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