The Auldton Laughing Club

Laura Lyster-Mensh's fourth book is a fictional satire of life on the edge of two cultures and two centuries. She is a popular speaker and blogger whose interviews have appeared in The New York Times, BBC, NPR, and more. She first became known for her column, Soap Box, in the Fauquier Times-Democrat.

The peculiar story of an odd small place: Where secrets are kept in plain sight.

The good, and not-so-good, citizens of Auldton, Virginia, protest a mega-store by putting on a historical re-enactment that will expose more than the past. Posers, criminals, and the allergy-prone do battle with segregationists, Civil War buffs, and the tyranny of Robert's Rules.

"There's an old saying that if you don't know who the sucker is at the poker table, then it's you. In the Auldton Laughing Club, if you've ever lived in a small southern town and don't recognize the characters in the book, then you're probably one of the characters."

"It's the discussion of race in which the author really distinguishes herself as a unique voice. The historical and biological complexity of race and race relations is handled here in a way I've never seen before. It's trite to say there are no heroes and no villains, but in fiction it's not common to say that...especially in stories with racial conflict. It's this complexity with makes Laura's characters real and, by the end, believable."

If you care about good writing and enjoy a laugh, then you'll need to pick up The Auldton Laughing Club."
Amazon Reviewer, Idle Hands: Five Star Review