THAT PINSON GIRL, Regal House Publishing 2024

In a bleak Mississippi farmhouse, seventeen-year-old Leona Pinson gives birth to a son attended only by her dwarf aunt. Leona refuses to name the child’s father and lives her life in isolation. Her father has died two years before in a shooting Leona doesn’t believe was accidental. Her mother is distant, haunted by her own devastating secret. Luther Biggs, the son of Leona’s grandfather and a former Pinson slave, is her only ally against her brother, Raymond, who inhabits a world of nightriders and violence. When the father of Leona’s child returns with a wife after the war, Leona’s dreams of escape from her cruel existence shatter. Ultimately, the secrets and lies that bind Leona’s family and Luther’s are laid bare, with devastating consequences. Told against a backdrop of the deprivation of World War I, the tragedies of the influenza epidemic, and the burden of generations of betrayals, That Pinson Girl unfolds in lyrical and unflinching prose, engaging timeless issues of racism, sexism, and poverty.

. . . a heart-rending tragedy and a testament to the indomitable human spirit. —Clifford Garstang

A spellbinding story of murder, grief, and guilt with deeply sympathetic characters and a plot that takes you by the collar and won’t let go. — Minrose Gwin, author of The Accidentals, Promise, and The Queen of Palmyra 

That Pinson Girl portrays the tension of biracial friendships and loyalties in the rural South, a reality that has rarely been depicted with such precision. — Gale Massey, author of The Girl from Blind River

. . . a timely debut novel, proving the importance of guiding principles, internal morals, and maintaining your own spirit light. — Margaret McMullan, author of Where the Angels Lived

Reading the conclusion of That Pinson Girl makes one want to begin again . . . . — Nina Romano, author of The Secret Language of Women, The Girl Who Loved Cayo Bradley

Wilson’s suspenseful threading of tales has lasting historical resonance. — Katy Simpson Smith, author of The Weeds, The Everlasting, Free Men, The Story of Land and Sea

. . . a beautiful novel about the destructive power of dark secrets. — Tiffany Quay Tyson, author of The Past is Never and Three Rivers

CROSSCURRENTS AND OTHER STORIES, Press 53 2015

“Gerry Wilson’s vivid debut collection tackles a vast array of human experiences: death, birth, love, abuse, parenting, infidelity, youth, and aging. Rich with metaphor and dark symbolism, Crosscurrents shows women fighting the undertow of their tragedies with wisdom and sincerity.” — Erica Krouse, author of Contenders,