I just finished a a thoroughly enjoyable debut novel called Through the Pale Door by Brian Ray. The Atlanta Journal Constitution said that if there were an annual Southern Gothic Fiction Award, this book would undoubtedly get it. Its narrator (first person) is an art student who takes a summer job at her dad's steel plant as a respite from her crazy mother who is a revolving door admission at the psych ward. Nevertheless there is a first-love story too, and the book is surprisingly upbeat, not at all the woe-is-me tale that kind of story often is. A strong strong recommend.