Susan Zurenda’s Vibrant Debut Transports Readers to Small-Town South Carolina in the 60s-70s, Where the Bonds of Love Prevail in the Face of Tragedy

In today’s episode 181, we visit with Susan Zurenda, author of Bells for Eli, a compelling coming of age story where culture, family, friends, bullies, and lovers propel two young people to unite to guard each other in small-town Green Branch, SC where love, hope, and connectedness ultimately triumph.

In 1959, three-year-old Eli Winfield has a horrible, preventable accident that leaves him permanently scarred and the victim of vicious bullying. His first cousin, Delia Green, becomes his fierce defender and advocate, and the pair develop an inseparable bond. As they reach adolescence, their relationship evolves into a deeper, more complex love.

Jill McCorkle, author of “Life and Life” says says Susan Beckham Zurenda’s “finely detailed, debut novel, paints a vivid portrait of Adeline Green who is growing up in the seventies and maneuvering class differences, peer pressure, and first love. The sexual confines of her southern town as well as taboo family secrets from the past, bring her face to face with life changing decisions and losses in ways both moving and profound.”

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About the Author:

After teaching literature, composition, and creative writing to thousands of high school and college students for 33 years, Susan Zerenda turned her attention to putting the novel of her heart on paper, the genesis of which was a short story that won the South Carolina Fiction Prize some years ago. Her debut novel, Bells for Eli (Mercer University Press, March 2020), was selected as a Winter 2020 Okra Pick by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize for 2021. She  has won numerous regional awards such as the South Carolina Fiction Prize (twice), the Porter Fleming Competition, The Southern Writers Symposium Emerging Writers Fiction Contest, The Hub City Hardegree Contest in Fiction, Alabama Conclave First Novel Chapter Contest, and The Jubilee Writing Competition, and has been published in numerous literary journals. Susan received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in English and now works as a book publicist managing media relations for Magic Time Literary Publicity. She lives in South Carolina.

Additional Praise for the Book

“Susan Beckham Zurenda is a vibrant new Southern voice. Bells for Eli, her debut novel, will remind readers of Pat Conroy’s rich storytelling. Vivid and Beautiful. The book will capture the hearts of those who love the South and in particular South Carolina.”   

— Ann Hite, award winning author of the Black Mountain series and Roll Away The Stone, a  granddaughter’s memoir of racism and madness

“Susan Beckham Zurenda’s exquisite debut novel transports readers into the small-town South of a supposedly simpler time and place where tragic circumstances and malicious consequences shouldn’t happen. With genuine emotion and a mastery of atmosphere and action, Bells For Eli is a consummate story of determination and love prevailing in a world where cruelty and exclusion threaten to dominate. Stories of the heart don’t get any better than this.”

—Mary Alice Monroe, award-winning and New York Times best-selling author of The Summer Guests

“Bells for Eli is a compelling coming-of-age tale set in a South Carolina small town during the 1960s and ‘70s, an era rife with rebellion, passion, and change. Zurenda’s skillful writing and depth of characters swiftly pulled me into this unique story and didn’t let go until its heartrending final pages. A memorable, atmospheric novel of love, friendship, and bonds that surpass all reason.” 

 —Kristina McMorris, New York Times bestselling author of Sold on a Monday and The Edge Of Lost

“Somewhere between Scout Finch and Mattie Ross comes the remarkable voice of Adeline Green in Susan Beckham Zurenda’s Bells for Eli. This is a heartwarming story of two families, their triumphs and tribulations, all of it enveloped, really, in love and compassion. Ms. Zurenda knows the human heart, and her narrator knows the human soul.”

—George Singleton, author of Staff Picks

“A stunning debut, Bells for Eli establishes Susan Beckham Zurenda as one of the most exciting new voices in Southern fiction. In this tender, beautifully-rendered novel, the powerful connection between cousins Delia and Eli takes them on a journey fraught with longing, desire, and heartbreak. Through loss, Delia comes to understand that the bonds of love can never truly be broken.

—Cassandra King Conroy, award –winning and New York Times best-selling author of  five novels and the memoir Tell Me A Story:My Life With Pat Conroy

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