Read : Found Read : How to Be a Girl in the World Read : The Girl Beneath the Sea Read : Rythm of War Read : Little Universes Read : Lies Like Poison
A new novel inspired by historical events: a story of three young women on a journey in search of family amidst the destruction of the post-Civil War South and of a modern-day teacher who rediscovers their story and its connection to her own students' lives.Lisa Wingate brings to life stories from actual Lost Friends advertisements that appeared in Southern newspapers aA new novel inspired by historical events: a story of three young women on a journey in search of family amidst the destruction of the post-Civil War South and of a modern-day teacher who rediscovers their story and its connection to her own students' lives.Lisa Wingate brings to life stories from actual Lost Friends advertisements that appeared in Southern newspapers after the Civil War as freed slaves desperately searched for loved ones who had been sold off.Louisiana 1875 In the tumultuous aftermath of Reconstruction three young women set off as unwilling companions on a perilous quest: Lavinia the pampered heir to a now-destitute plantation; Juneau Jane her illegitimate free-born Creole half-sister; and Hannie Lavinia's former slave. Each carries private wounds and powerful secrets as they head for Texas following dangerous roads rife with ruthless vigilantes and soldiers still fighting a war lost a decade before. For Lavinia and Juneau Jane the journey is one of inheritance and financial desperation but for Hannie torn from her mother and eight siblings before slavery's end the pilgrimage westward reignites an agonizing question: Could her long-lost family still be out there? Beyond the swamps lie the seemingly limitless frontiers of Texas and improbably hope.Louisiana 1987 For first-year teacher Benedetta Silva a subsidized job at a poor rural school seems like the ticket to canceling her hefty student debt--until she lands in a tiny out-of-step Mississippi River town. Augustine Louisiana seems suspicious of new ideas and new people and Benny can scarcely comprehend the lives of her poverty-stricken students. But amid the gnarled oaks and run-down plantation homes lies the century-old history of three young women a long-ago journey and a hidden book that could change everything.(less)