Brad Gooch has taken the complicated, intense life of the woman who was one of the greatest Southern writers of the 20th century and rendered it accessible and compelling. He demonstrates how O’Connor devised her characters and their motives, as well how her deep Roman Catholic faith shaped her narrative. Most touchingly, Gooch takes readers into the hospital with O’Connor, where, while dying of lupus, she hid works in progress under her pillow so doctors wouldn’t stop her creative flow. Considered at best a minor writer when she died, Gooch demonstrates just why O’Connor is now, rightfully, considered one of the best authors to have walked the earth.