Sean Dietrich, affectionately known as “Sean of the South,” delivers a spirited and heartfelt tale with his upcoming novel Over Yonder, due October 7, 2025. Dietrich weaves together a story of redemption and reluctant kinship in the Deep South, all with his signature humor and compassionate warmth.

Defrocked priest Woody Barker is released from prison after 10 years to deal with his troubled past, his heart condition, and his uncertain future. Living on a houseboat moored along the Alabama Gulf Coast, Woody just wants a quiet, peaceful life. But his ex-wife is nagging about his diet and his unhealthy habits as she wants him to be eligible for a heart transplant, and his first ex-wife informs him in a dying request that he has a 17-year-old pregnant daughter named Caroline.

Caroline was born with birth defects stemming from her mother’s drug abuse. She’s been in and out of foster homes all her life. More recently, she had been living with a mean boyfriend who she deserts after he beats her. At her mother’s funeral, she learns Woody is her father.

Forced together by circumstances, Woody and Caroline try to figure out what the purpose is of something Caroline’s mother hid beneath the subfloor of her trailer’s bathroom cabinet. This item plunges them into a dangerous situation with unsavory men following them with a final confrontation. Soon the Federal Bureau of Investigation enters the picture.

Through a series of events, Woody and Caroline forge an unlikely family bond. In addition, she benefits from a grandfather named Major and a younger sister named Rachel.

Southern flavor is infused throughout the book with Dietrich’s dry humor and Southern colloquialisms. Over Yonder is a journey toward reconnection, forgiveness, and the accidental family people choose when the world turns its back on them. This is definitely a book for fans of Rick Bragg.

Sean Dietrich is a columnist, podcaster, speaker, and novelist, known for his commentary on life in the American South. His work has appeared in Southern Living, The Tallahassee Democrat, Good Grit, South Magazine, The Bitter Southerner, Thom Magazine, and The Mobile Press Register.