New book on forgotten south Alabama neighborhood coming this fall

“Alabama Village: Faith, Hope, and Survival in a Southern Town,” a nonfiction book by journalist J. Malcolm Garcia, will be released Oct. 14 through Seven Stories Press, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House.

Specifically, Garcia covers the story of people involved with the Light of the Village church, located just outside Prichard, Alabama.

“In Alabama Village, an impoverished and often violent neighborhood south of Mobile, the children no longer flinch at the eruption of gunshots. To them, it’s just another day,” a released from the publisher read. “In this community, few things last—the loss of life is relentless, and relief efforts come and go. But John and Dolores Eads, a devout Christian couple who established Light of the Village church, stay. They spread their mission: lead with love, faith, and consistency—and don’t condemn or judge.” 

Garcia has reported around the world from Afghanistan and the Middle East to across the United States. He has published several books, including “The Fruit of All My Grief: Lives in the Shadows of the American” and “Most Dangerous, Most Unmerciful: Stories from Afghanistan.”