New York is the light and the dark, the success and the struggle. Maybe the reason we love to hate it is because it is just that: in balance with the human experience itself. Would we cherish the highs if the lows were not so low? Would we resort to misery in small talk if we weren’t all here seeking the spectacular?

Jones and Pearson represent a new South, one that takes the darkness of its past and learns from it, shares the pain of marginalised groups, and works towards a better, more inclusive, and empathetic standard.

Today, the South seems to be undergoing a second Renaissance, one that extends far beyond the reaches of literature.