Southern Historical Fiction

In a town nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, Rachel Smith has found a new life tending a lush apple orchard. She’s safe within its grove. If her dreams are haunted by memories of her violent husband, that pain is soothed by fresh mountain air and apples that taste as sweet as honey. But Rachel wasn’t meant to live in the shadows. The orchard drew her to Morgan’s Gap to fulfill a purpose and a tight-knit community of wisewomen who honor the old mountain traditions are ready to teach her. A world of magic awaits Rachel, one filled with new friendships and possibly new love

Virginia, 1927: All Ruth Ann Riley wants is a chance to have a family. But because she was poor and unwed when she became pregnant, she was sent to an institution and her child was given to another woman. Ruth Ann can't stand the thought of never seeing little Annabel's face again, never snuggling up to her warmth or watching her blue eyes crinkle with laughter. And now they want to take away her right to have any other babies? She is not going to let that happen.

Set in Alabama in the early '80s, Family Law follows a young lawyer, Lucia, who is making a name for herself at a time when a woman in a courtroom is still a rarity. She's received plenty of threats for her work extricating women and children from troubled relationships, but her own happy marriage has always felt far removed from her work. When her mother's pending divorce brings teenaged Rachel into Lucia's orbit, Rachel finds herself captivated not only with Lucia, but with the change Lucia represents.

Four Southern women are at a turning point in history...and in their own hearts.

Victor Chin’s life is turned upside down at the tender age of 15. Diagnosed with Hansen’s disease, otherwise known as leprosy, he’s forced to leave the familiar confines of his father’s laundry business in the Bronx–the only home he’s known since emigrating from China with his older brother—to quarantine alongside patients from all over the country at a federal institution in Carville. At first, Victor is scared not only of the disease, but of the confinement, and wants nothing more than to flee.

The Altamaha River, Georgia's "Little Amazon", is one of the last truly wild places in America. Crossed by roads only five times in its 137 miles, the blackwater river is home to 1,000-year-old virgin cypresses, direct descendants of 18th-century Highland warriors, and a staggering array of rare and endangered species. The Altamaha is even rumored to harbor its own river monster, as well as traces of the oldest European fort in North America.

Callum, a seasoned horse thief at 15 years old, came to America from his native Ireland as an orphan. Ava, her father and brother lost to the war, hides in her crumbling home until Callum determines to rescue her from the bands of hungry soldiers pillaging the land, leaving destruction in their wake. Ava and Callum have only each other in the world and their remarkable horse, Reiver, who carries them through the destruction that is the South.

Sixty-something sisters Mary Alice and Patricia Anne head to Florida to relax at a beachfront condo. But when a body washes up on the waves, the sisters find themselves awash in a sea of dirty real estate dealings and evidence of murders.

Southern Mozambique, 1894. Sergeant Germano de Melo is posted to the village of Nkokolani to oversee the Portuguese conquest of territory claimed by Ngungunyane, the last of the leaders of the state of Gaza, the second-largest empire led by an African. Ngungunyane has raised an army to resist colonial rule and with his warriors is slowly approaching the border village. Desperate for help, Germano enlists Imani, a 15-year-old girl, to act as his interpreter. She belongs to the VaChopi tribe, one of the few who dared side with the Portuguese.

In order to rebuild her life, Savannah must help the people taking over her home. The Civil War cost Savannah Darby everything - her family and her home. When Aidan Bedford, an attorney from Boston, buys the Darby estate, he hires Savannah to redecorate. Can she find a mysterious treasure before her job is finished?

Daisy Lindberg and Lily Boyle traded a colorful past for a fresh start as seamstresses in Autrie, Texas, and their aim to spark a women’s rights movement is raising eyebrows among the town’s dumbfounded men. But among the ladies? Tired of being treated like possessions, they have two words: Amen, sister! Beulah, a sassy shop owner as formidable as a cannon shot, is on board. So is Alma, a timid preacher’s wife who hit her breaking point. Before long, a courageous female posse has a liberating petition of demands.

Josephine Buchanan Wright is forced apart from the man she loves. She has chosen the path of honor and duty, denying her heart its desire. Unaware of a growing threat against her, she strives to make her dying father's wish a reality. Cullen Smythe returns to Philadelphia and tries to pick up the pieces of his shattered heart...forget her and make a life for himself - alone. But fate has other plans for once more Josephine enters his world. Can their love be rekindled against the forces against them?

The man accused of shooting a black girl, a storekeeper named Paris Trout, has no great feeling of guilt, nor any fear that the system will fail to work his way. Trout becomes an embarrassment to the polite white society of his small Georgia town, which prefers to hold itself high above such primitive prejudice. But the trial does not allow any avoidance of the stark reality of social and racial tensions.

In 1850s South Carolina, ladies with ambition and a penchant for wearing trousers are rare indeed. But that’s Charlotte Whitney all over. Not only does Charlie yearn to resurrect her late father’s newspaper, she wants to be its editor. That position, however, has been handed to Richmond newspaperman Adam Chase. Undeterred, Charlie convinces Adam to teach her the journalism trade. In doing so, she teaches him how to open his heart.

From the ashes of war, can an ember of love still burn? The final chapter of this sweeping tale finds Josephine Wright Montgomery reeling from the devastation and loss around her. Stunned, she has never felt so helpless and alone. The life she has known is gone forever. Through her courage and strength, she is determined to hold onto Magnolia Bluff, but there is more working against her than the war raging. US Navy Lieutenant Cullen Smythe has distinguished himself with his bravery and valor in the hard fought campaigns at New Orleans and Mobile. Time and battles have done little to expunge the demons that haunt him. Nevertheless when he receives news he has long feared, he has no choice. He follows his heart back to Josephine...but will it be too late?

The tie that bound the cousins, Cullen Smythe and Wade Montogmery, together has been strained and stretched to the breaking point, and there is nothing Josephine can do. The bond once shared, once so strong, has been lost in the turmoil surrounding their lives. The war will force the brothers to choose sides. Each will defend their beliefs and loyalties with courage and valor, but each will stand against each other. The world that once was will be no more.

Benjamin Church came to the Grange Hall expecting to meet someone else, but then the girl in the red dress looked across the dance floor and smiled.... Passing Through Perfect is a heart-wrenching Southern family saga that starts on the night Benjamin falls madly in love with Delia. Once he tastes the sweetness of her kiss, he envisions them spending the rest of their life together. He doesn't stop to consider that her daddy is a learned Pastor, and her mama a woman with a college degree; he knows only that she sets his heart to racing.

Natchez is a stunning saga by NY Times bestselling author, Pamela Jekel, the second in her Southern trilogy. Spanning four generations of proud, strong-willed women, Natchez tells the story of hardships of frontier life, the glitter and opulence of plantation balls, the ravages of the Civil War, and the Great Flood of 1885.

In a world of pageantry and show, the Montgomery family accepts the way of life that has been Antebellum Charleston for over 100 years. Two cousins, the handsome and debonair Wade Montgomery and the bold and brooding Cullen Smythe, were born to be brothers. Raised as Southern gentlemen, their character could never be questioned - loyalty, honor, duty to one's country, God, and family. It was the tie that binds until their bond is threatened, not only by the cry for secession but by a woman.

During the Great Depression, the U.S. government illegally deported more than a million Mexican-American citizens to make room on the welfare rolls and alleviate unemployment for white Americans. Carlos Moreno is a young man who has known only hardship and poverty, chasing rumors of work across Texas during the 1920s. Pursued by a renegade Texas ranger who thinks he holds the key to a secret, Carlos takes refuge in “Little Mexico,” Houston’s colorful, boisterous barrio. He picks the worst possible time to fall in love.