The US Review of Books (USRB) commended Daryl Haskew’s “Portersville” because “Haskew retrieves history in this fictional account based on primary research and brings Portersville to life through a map and the saga of the Papatonis family” 

“Portersville” by Daryl Haskew is highly acclaimed by Priscilla Estes of the US Review of Books.

In this, his first novel, author Daryl Haskew transports the reader into the exciting, mysterious world of Portersville. Spending decades in and on Portersville Bay allowed for personal experiences with sailing, building boats, and constructing log homes. The Spring Hill College graduate and retired educator blends fact and fiction into a powerful saga spanning twenty years among the characters of what is now known as Bayou La Batre, Coden, and Dauphin Island, Alabama.

Hurricanes embody the man-against-nature theme, especially the one in 1906 that ended the town’s prosperity. Personification renders a storm’s vibration a “hungry beast,” consuming the warmth of the Gulf and driving it skyward, “increasing her appetite even more” to fill the “vacuum inside the eye.”

“Portersville” presents a compelling story about how, after a summer of record-setting heat, the water of the Gulf of Mexico began to boil. She consumed the available fuel, sending giant clouds skyward to the edge of space. As her eye formed, her power increased. Like a hungry beast, she consumed the warmth of the Gulf and drove it skyward, increasing her appetite even more. Soon, she became one of the most feared forces of nature . . . Hurricane.

Growing stronger each hour, and with nothing to guide her, she wandered aimlessly in the central Gulf. Unaware of her existence, the coastline to the north lay sleeping like an innocent child. Her winds screamed louder and louder with each passing minute as she moved northward, her banshee cries resonating across the Gulf and into the dark void of outer space above.

A lifetime of communing with the sea told him that she would not turn away, and soon it would be too late. 

Here’s an excerpt from the US Review of Books that highlights:

“Haskew knows nature’s fury from growing up in Portersville and living through Hurricane Camille in 1969, which took his home. Two subsequent dwellings were swallowed, and now he lives in a trailer, moveable when hurricanes threaten. Haskew does a fine job of romanticizing the past and bringing it alive through a colorful cast of characters, including noble Greeks, shrimp boat captains, voodoo queens, Mafia dons, and Creek Indian archetypes. History buffs will enjoy the historically accurate progress of a real coastal town, from the first shrimp boat to pleasure boats and casinos through electricity and automobiles.”