No mystery here: Columbia's Laura McHugh wins 2023 Missouri Literary Award
Laura McHugh's stories live amid darkness, but hold out hope enough to believe the light eventually arrives.
Writing from Columbia, about the Ozarks, her mystery novels radiate far from home — readers welcome her tales of troublesome family heirlooms, violent small towns, whispered truths and resilient survivors. But home certainly never forgets McHugh. This week, the author was honored with the 2023 Missouri Literary Award, bestowed by the Missouri Library Association.
The prize specifically uplifts McHugh's book "What’s Done in Darkness," the story of a young woman pushing through her own history of abduction and religious trauma to aid someone in similarly dire straits.
The book earned praise from fellow authors such as Laura Lippman and Ron Rash. And reviewers like the Los Angeles Times' Lorraine Berry observed one of the enduring truths within McHugh's work: the author tells desperate tales while offering something far more complicated than judgement to the people or places written into their heart.
"McHugh is tremendously skilled at conveying dire poverty while acknowledging the fears such privation provokes in others — resulting in a punitive lack of empathy among other classes," Berry wrote. "... McHugh has a gift for showing how those who struggle find other ways of asserting their self-worth, whether in cleaving to religious belief, constructing social hierarchies based on race and gender or simply plotting their escapes."
The Missouri Library Association subcommittee considered more than 20 titles before alighting on "What's Done in Darkness."
"McHugh's books have been a literary favorite of many a reader over the years and are always riveting," chair Debra Loguda-Summers said in a news release.
McHugh will receive her award, and give a presentation, at the association's statewide conference Oct. 5 here in Columbia.
Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. He's on Twitter @aarikdanielsen.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: No mystery here: Columbia's Laura McHugh wins 2023 Missouri Literary Award
