John Scott Winters Impresses Book Reviewers with Acclaimed Southern Novel “Those We Leave Behind”

Southern literature is a genre very distinct to America as it captures a historical spirit that can’t be found anywhere else. It is why author John Scott Winters has dedicated time and personal experience along with an anthropological background that better informs his work.

In fact, Winters’ stories have resulted in a number of publications in Fine Lines and Turning Points. He was also a finalist at the Tennessee Writers Alliance Short Story Competition for an early draft of chapter one, and was named first honorable mention in the Florida State Writing Competition – Novel Chapter for a draft of chapter two. However, the real fruit of his labor comes in the form of his completed and polished novel Those We Leave Behind: The Cruelest Crop.

Set in the depression era mid-south, Those We Leave Behind is the story of a man and his family struggling to hold on to the past while dealing with the present. When Ellie Felts dies suddenly during childbirth, her husband Harley and their children are faced with trying to keep their family alive after losing the heart of it. The story follows the Felts clan through their long period of grief and mourning, through their agonizing recovery, to their eventual healing with the unexpected help of a stranger, as they discover that love can never be lost, it can only change form.

Book reviewers continue to find Winters’ novel a literary hard-hitter. BlueInk Review describes Those We Leave Behind as “A well-paced, cleverly plotted novel…a finely crafted story that offers numerous rewards: from its authentic portrait of time and place to its realistic look at how members of one family struggle to integrate a troubled past into a hopeful future. Readers will savor the journey.”
Meanwhile, the consensus at Kirkus Reviews is, “Winters is an eloquent storyteller and skilled at drawing out suspense and adding twists just when the readers think they know what will happen next.” And John M. Murray of Clarion Review calls Those We Leave Behind “a moving novel in which a grieving family pursues healing, love, and joy… The opening chapters set a poetic, if vague, tone, following Harley as he digs a hole near a tree on his property.”

Get a piece of genuine Depression-era southern literature in Those We Leave Behind: The Cruelest Crop by John Scott Winters. The book is available on Amazon.


Those We Leave Behind: The Cruelest Crop
Author | John Scott Winters
Published date | November 20, 2022
Publisher | KDP
Genre | Southern Literature


Author Bio
After studying literature and anthropology at Middle Tennessee State University, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Nashville State University, and Ole Miss (under the John Grisham Chair), Winters has had short works published by Fine Lines and Turning Points, and after submitting a sample chapter as a stand-alone short story, from his first novel, Those We Leave Behind, to the Tennessee Writers Alliance, was named a finalist and was asked to read at their annual conference in Nashville. Chapter Two of the book also received First Honorable mention in the Florida State Writing Competition – Novel Chapter.
Those We leave Behind is his first novel and has been since edited and polished. In the meantime, he has written a third-person close, accelerated Bildungsroman (with more than a touch of Magical Realism) trilogy about a ten-year-old girl’s discovery of the amazing abilities that all share deep inside.

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