“Violence is part and parcel of country life.” Hillary Jordan’s debut novel, Mudbound (Algonquin Books, 2008), which won the 2006 Bellwether Prize, has been adapted into a feature film. Set in post–World War II in the Mississippi Delta, the film was directed and written by Dee Rees and stars Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, and Mary J. Blige.