Southern Historical Fiction

Let the people of West Mills say what they will about Azalea 'Knot' Centre; they won't keep her from what she loves best: cheap moonshine, 19th-century literature, and the company of men. And yet, when motherhood looms, Knot begins to learn that her freedom has come at a high price. Low on money, ostracized from her parents and cut off from her hometown, Knot turns to her neighbor, Otis Lee Loving, in search of some semblance of family and home.

When a black boy named Paris saves Trudy from being crushed by a runaway Sunbeam Bread truck, they become friends. Navigating a multi-racial friendship in 1964 is no easy thing, however. The racism they encounter inspires them to go on an audacious adventure: to take down the Confederate flag that flies atop the South Carolina State House. And they can't do it without the help of Trudy's grandmother, Ida.

Twelve years ago, Samuel Turlington falsely accused Alexander Duncan's father of colluding with Napoleon. Once convicted, the man's title and lands were stripped, and he was executed. Disgraced, the family fled to Italy, where they built another fortune. His brothers were able to carry on with their lives, yet Alexander was unable to find peace until he saw his family name restored. Now he's returned to England to exonerate his father who swore Charles Turlington was the true traitor.

It's November 1, 1961, in a small town in South Carolina, and nuclear war is coming. Ten-year-old Wilson Porter believes this with every fiber of his being. He prowls his neighborhood for Communists and studies fallout pamphlets and the habits of his father, a scientist at the nuclear plant in town. Meanwhile, his mother Nellie covertly joins an anti-nuclear movement led by angry housewives-and his father, Dean, must decide what to do with the damning secrets he's uncovered at the nuclear plant. When tragedy strikes, the Porter family must learn to confront their fears.

His name was Edgar J. Watson, a man with a secret past. Accused of gunning-down the notorious outlaw Belle Starr, Edgar fled into the lawless land where no lawman in his right mind would go—the wilds of southwest Florida. In a region where snakes, gators, and sharks feasted on the naive ones who accepted the offerings of strangers. Edgar J. Watson became successful in the sugar trade, building his plantation on the backs of runaways, slaves, and adventurers.

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?

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 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?

Truett Beverly returned to Bethel Springs, Alabama, after finishing medical school. Fighting a secret war with a corrupt lawman wasn't in his plans, but when Sheriff Suggs threatens his childhood friend, Truett dons a cape and hood and becomes the Hooded Horseman, placing him squarely in the sheriff's crosshairs.

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.

In 19th-century America, making sense of mysterious events often perplexed citizens of the small Southern town of Juniper, South Carolina. Especially the three Chadwick households. Brothers Laurence, Brodie, and Angus Chadwick lost their parents shortly after sailing from England to the New World. Each young man, in turn, would meet the woman of his dreams. Lacey. Fiona. Guinevere. Beautiful, intelligent, sensitive creatures all. And yet, despite their noble virtues, the three Chadwick women are cursed, it seems, for reasons only the occult can provide.

The death of Donald Ray in a freak car accident becomes the catalyst for the release of passions, needs, and hurts. Clayton’s discovery of dead Donald Ray upends his longtime emotional numbness. Darlene, the seventeen-year-old widow, struggles to reconnect with her late husband while proving herself still alive. Soon Clayton and Darlene’s bond of loss and death works its magic, drawing them into an affair that brings the loneliness in Clayton’s marriage to a crisis. When Aurilla Cutter, Clayton’s mother-in-law, learns about the affair, her own memories are set loose.

It’s 1953 when Memory Feather and her mother, Virginia, are welcomed back home to the Mississippi Gulf Coast community of Belle Cote by Virginia’s childhood friend Mac McFadden, whose verve and energy buoy the recently divorced Virginia to embrace this new chapter. Memory (“Mem”) is unlike other girls: she is attuned to the voices of plants and animals and is missing two fingers on her twisted left hand. The three of them knit their lives together and become a close, though unconventional, family.

High Skies recounts the collision of devastating weather, Cold War suspicion, tense race relations, and the unintended consequences of good intentions in a small West Texas town in the 1950s, changing the futures of the families there and altering their perceptions of America. At the center of this perfect storm is Raymond “Flyboy” Seaker, a respected military veteran, now the vice principal of a school in which Troy, who tells the story, and his disabled friend Stevie will have their lives upended forever.

One sunny Spring morning, EJ's simple life is turned upside down when the town's master gardener unceremoniously hands her a stack of handwritten letters that have all been addressed to a nonexistent person at the garden. This simple act sets in motion a chain of events that will lead EJ on a life-altering quest to uncover the identity of the mysterious letter writer―and into a surprising head-on confrontation with the harsh realities of the racial injustice that is as deeply rooted in the life of her community as the ancient herbs cultivated in the Moravian garden.

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.

It's 1932, and Sullivan Harris is on the run. He promised the people of Kline, West Virginia, that he would find them water, but now he's failed and disappeared with their cash. Although he's determined to stay a step ahead of pursuers - like Jeremiah Weber - his resources are running low. Gainey Floyd is suspicious of Sulley's claim to be a dowser when he appears in town but reconsiders after he finds water. Rather, it's Sulley who grows uneasy when his success makes folks wonder if he can find more than water - like forgotten items or missing people.

The hurricane of 1900, America’s worst natural disaster, left the island city of Galveston in ruins. Thousands perished, including all 93 children at the Sisters of the Incarnate Word orphanage—except six-year-old Hester, who miraculously survived. Oleander City is the tale of this little girl and the volatile collision between the American Red Cross, the Ku Klux Klan, and one of the most famous boxing matches in American history.

Jody Luther is a 15 year-old White girl battling insanity at home and hate-filled 1970 Jackson, Mississippi, leading to the Jackson State Massacre. Jody has landed in Jackson with her alcoholic mother and younger sister, Willie. The book not only deals with racial issues, but police-forced integration leading up to the murder of two young black students.