Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South.

Because identity is complicated, we can be proud of where we came from and desperate to escape it at the same time.

Elizabeth Pesarella, Good Apple.

I'm Annie Jones, owner of the bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia.

And since you were so patient during our winter hiatus this week, we are bringing you a bonus episode featuring author Elizabeth Pesarella.

Elizabeth's debut memoir Good Apple shines a light on southern evangelical culture with humor, nuance, and grace.

And I'm thrilled to be talking with her today.

Hi, Elizabeth.

Hi, Annie. I'm so excited to be with you.

I am so excited. Happy belated book birthday. Your book came out yesterday.

I'm recording. Yes, it came out yesterday. So thank you.

So I first just have a really basic kind of how are you question, which is what has it been like to survive a global pandemic in New York City?

How are you?

You know, I'm doing okay now. It's January. My children, I have three kids.

The youngest is not in school, but the older two are in school part time.

We have kind of a hybrid system in the New York City public school system.

So that has been a life changing development in our world compared to the spring when everyone was home in a two bedroom apartment, including my husband and I both trying to work.

So it's the spring was really rough in New York, but it was really rough for everybody.

You know, I said this to so many people that there are definitely things that were harder in New York than they were in other places, simply because we live in small spaces and we're all home.

And we don't have a backyard or a trampoline or a basement or an office, but you know, we're all it's hard for everybody.

I talked to my friends in Memphis, which is where I grew up. I talked to my college friends who live in North Carolina.

And I feel like we're all lamenting and complaining about the same things.

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