A review by leahtylerthewriter
Beautiful Dreamers by Minrose Gwin

See full review in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

“Beautiful Dreamers” is Mississippi author Minrose Gwin’s immersive work of historical fiction centered on the coming of age of Memory “Mem” Feather, an imaginative child who talks to animals and has a three-fingered hand she tenderly calls her “paw.”

Set during the 1950s Lavender Scare (a spinoff of McCarthy’s anti-communist Red Scare that targeted homosexuals), social upheaval rips into Mem’s fictional Gulf Coast town as she struggles to make sense of the world. Guided by her pragmatic mother, Virginia, Mem is indelibly shaped by the unique characters who flow in and out of their lives as they seek to expand the definition of family..."

https://www.ajc.com/things-to-do/50s-era-lavender-scare-comes-to-mississippi-in-beautiful-dreamers/M7LPX73PDRDM7KLT5HYQTK2T3Q/