Seventeen-year-old Elizabeth of York trusts that her beloved father’s dying wish has left England in the hands of a just and deserving ruler. But upon the rise of Richard of Gloucester, Elizabeth’s family experiences one devastation after another: her late father is exposed as a bigamist, she and her siblings are branded bastards, and her brothers are taken into the new king’s custody, then reportedly killed.
But one fateful night leads Elizabeth to question her prejudices. Through the eyes of Richard’s ailing queen she sees a man worthy of respect and undying adoration. His dedication to his people inspires a forbidden love and ultimately gives her the courage to accept her destiny, marry Henry Tudor, and become Queen. While her soul may secretly belong to another, her heart belongs to England…
During her short time as a ward in Queen Marguerite's Lancastrian court, fifteen-year-old Isobel has had many suitors ask for her hand, but the spirited beauty is blind to all but Yorkist Sir John Neville. It is nothing short of a miracle when the Queen allows Isobel's marriage to the enemy, albeit at a hefty price.
All around Isobel and John rages a lawless war. It is only their passion that can see them through the bloody siege of London by the Duke of York, the violent madness of Queen Marguerite, and the devolution of Isobel's meek uncle into the Butcher of England. For theirs is an everlasting love that fears not the scratch of thorns, from either the Red Rose or the White.
The battle lines are drawn both at home and abroad as bestselling author Dianne Ebertt Beeaff s gripping first novel unfolds. Framed in a rich historical backdrop, Power s Garden is the masterfully woven tale of two southeastern Arizona families one Texan, one Mormon whose cultures collide during trying economic times. As World War I rages in Europe, a crippling drought engulfs the Gila Valley desert, the hope of the area s ranchers wasting away with their livestock. With candor and courage, the Brennick and Beecham families develop an embattled but gripping relationship, navigating uncertainties, challenging traditions and learning to love.
No one in fifth century Britain knows more secrets than master spy Marcus ap Iorwerth, and that makes him a dangerous man. It also makes him a hunted one. For nearly three decades he has manipulated stubborn, irascible kings and warlords in a quest to not only unite them against foreign invasion but to stop them from destroying each other as well. And along with his beloved wife Claerwen, he has followed a greater, even more perilous pursuit to forge a clear path for the fulfillment of Merlin the Enchanter s famed prophecy that one day a great king will take command, the king known as Arthur of the Britons.
Now, with Arthur at last on the brink of adulthood and already showing great promise as a leader, Marcus discovers that the emerging Christian church is gaining enough power to dangerously shift control of Britain. At the same time Claerwen, gifted with second sight, is plagued with strange dreams that connect inexplicable doom to both Arthur and a long lost grail sacred to Britain s high kings. As foreboding mounts, Marcus struggles to prevent the church from crushing Arthur s chances of becoming an effective king. But how he goes about it sets up the very doom that Claerwen sees. Will she be able to stop him? Or will her visions send Marcus to his own doom as well?
It was the biggest sailing vessel ever built and the world’s first super-tanker. In the winter of 1907, the four hundred foot, seven-masted schooner T.W. Lawson was making her first trans-Atlantic crossing with two and a quarter million gallons of kerosene for delivery to London. With almost fifty years of sailing experience, Captain George W. Dow was not intimidated, despite the Lawson’s checkered history. But, three weeks of hurricane winds and an angry sea conspired to easily defeat man and machine. Bereft of her sails, the giant ship found itself trapped in treacherous shoals off the southwest coast of Britain. Seventeen lives would be lost, including a local pilot attempting to avert disaster. Now, Captain Dow is called to account, most especially to himself. Leviathan’s Master is a true story, transformed into a gripping historical novella by the Captain’s great, great nephew.
The year is 1692. The place is Salem. After witnessing the hanging of her beloved sister on Salem's Gallows Hill, fourteen-year-old Mary flees the witch hunters with her five-year-old brother, Ephraim, into the American wilderness. Trek with them to Katahdin in Maine where Ephraim escapes up the mountain to the Great God Pomola's stronghold in the Cave of Storms. Fight beside the limping Soaring Eagle who, desperate for Mary's love, throws stones for her to pick up in the Abenaki tradition of seduction, only to suffer her rejection, after which the flirtatious Hill Dancer captures his affections. Escape with them past bands of "child-chomping" Iroquois to the prayer village near Quebec, Canada, where the Jesuit Fathers try to convert them from Manitou's ways to their own God's. Tumultuous love, betrayal, treachery, poison, and miracles await them.
While the strife of the Civil War is over, the conflict in Monaville, Texas, is just beginning—and John Ross Wilhite seems to be in the middle of it all. For John Ross, the world is a confusing place. The slaves have been freed, but only some of the occupants of Monaville seem to accept that fact. The Klan is growing in number and political power, but John Ross doesn't understand what the fuss is all about. The General—his revered grandfather—seems to be on the wrong side of the law. And everybody is just a bit too interested in his friendship with Miss Afton.
But John Ross doesn't have the luxury of youth any longer, as tensions mount and the most respected men in town become the most fearsome—for good or ill. With richly drawn characters, poignant stories, and a gut-wrenching climax, The General and Monaville, Texas delivers a powerful tale of secrets, politics, and discord in the Reconstruction south—and the coming of age of a boy and a town.
A son of ex-slaves raises himself up to be a physician and the personal physician to Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver. John A. Kenney, M.D. is one of the most important unsung African American heroes of the twentieth century. Beacon on the Hill is based on Kenney's papers and journals dating back to 1895. Kenney traveled with Booker T. Washington on his Goodwill Tours throughout the South, founded a hospital for blacks at Tuskegee, and was forced out of Alabama by the Ku Klux Klan. Relocating to Newark, New Jersey he built his own hospital for blacks which he gave to the people of Newark as a Christmas gift in 1934. This novel demonstrates the trials and tribulations of the Negro physician in the 20th century and offers an explanation of the slave mentality which plagued the race then and now.
North Carolina, 1917. Charlie Newell lives a quiet life farming as a sharecropper under the hot Southern sun and living in the Negro settlement of Holly Ridge. Even though the world is engaged in the Great War, Charlie's religion forbids him from fighting. He and other Negroes from the community have registered as conscientious objectors, but the U.S. Army ignores their stance and forces them into the service.
Once Charlie begins his duties as a soldier, the trouble starts. Racial slurs, insults, and even physical abuse hound him, and he longs to return to his farm. His religious beliefs clash with the army when he refuses to work on Saturday-his Sabbath-and Charlie is arrested, court-martialed, and sentenced to ten years of hard labor.
For Charlie, a simple man with simple dreams, his time in prison is the biggest obstacle in his life. Facing prejudice from fellow inmates, guards, and prison administrators is one thing. But it is the toll on his mind, body, and spirit that will truly test the strength of his convictions.
The Court-Martial of Charlie Newell sheds light on a little-known piece of American history. Charlie Newell's plight artfully portrays the racial prejudice of America during World War I and reveals one man's fortitude in the face of adversity.
Kinship: A Story of the Kinneys, An English/American Family, is a historical fiction book based on a remarkable collection of authentic family records, correspondence, research, and contributions from family members. The saga begins in 1066 during the time of William, the Conqueror and meanders through time with fascinating episodes for twenty generations. Each episode identifies important qualities that were key for personal achievements, or sometimes, for mere survival when danger or calamities were confronted.
The author’s approach is unique, combining important historical events with the success, failure and the key ingredients of the family’s kinship that sustained them in an ever changing world. The story brings the lives of aged family members to life with personal reminisces and some striking similarities of family members with today’s generation.
In the end the author raises important questions about the role of the family as an institution in today’s society. Those questions, as well as his answers, are worthy of consideration for anyone interested in the future of their own family.
