From the cotton fields of antebellum Arkansas to the heart of California's Gold Rush, this lush, historical saga follows the bittersweet journey of a plantation owner's daughter in her quest for personal freedom.

Without her mother, separated from her twin brother, and oppressed by her cruel and philandering father, Diana McCallum is a rebellious and feisty young woman. Her best friend is a slave girl named Drum, and Diana doesn't care about their differences in status or color. Her disapproving father sends Diana away to boarding school, where her defiance soon gets her expelled.

Later, to escape the torture of a brutal marriage, Diana stows away on a wagon train headed to California. During the grueling journey west, Diana encounters unexpected love, danger, and adventure. And when Drum appears, she brings with her a secret that will change Diana's life forever.

A successful blend of history and fiction, "Golden Siblings" reveals the emotional turmoil and racial prejudices of pre-Civil War America and explores the lure of the forbidden, the value of independence, the power of secrets, and the irrepressible ties of family.

"A White Hat in Argo" describes the survival of a close-knit Negro family, led by three sisters, during the summer of 1951. Lil Man, an 8-year old, was enthralled by the rich lifestyles of his hard working relatives who lived in the small town outside Chicago, named Argo. The Negro section of Argo became an oasis for Blacks who earned a good wage working in the huge corn processing factory that dominated the town. Men worked hard and played hard in the bars and taverns that lined the Horseshoe Bend, where cheap drinks, fast women, honky-tonk music and cut throat gambling spiced up the nights. Rooster, Captain, Oliver, and Wallace survived that harsh life in different memorable ways.

Author Gerald V. Stokes, through eyes of Lil Man, examines the mystery of why the three Shelman sisters, part of the Black Migration of the 1920's, left Troy, Alabama, and took root in Argo, Illinois. Negro life in Argo was vibrant and care-free, yet intensely dangerous during that era. It was also a time where community closeness insured survival, but everyone held deeper secrets they dare not reveal. The secrets held by the three sisters were the most profound of all.

Marcellus Box is restless, and he does not know how to find what he is missing most in his life. He was raised-up in the deep woods of the "Big Thicket," which is northeast of Houston, Texas. In August of 1926, he receives a mysterious postcard from his cousin, Estella, begging him to come to Loma Linda, California, immediately.

Now, Estella has always held a special place in Marcellus's heart. They have always watched out for each other, and when she and her family left Texas for California, he was desolate He asks for time off from work and then begins his quest across the country as a hobo to join Estella, his Dulcinea. Marcellus's trip to California is also a quest to find the deeper meaning in his life, his destiny.

What drives Marcellus to look deeper into his understanding of life and search for true happiness? We follow him as he travels the rails through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and then into California. He meets fascinating people along the way who stretch his mind. He learns new concepts about the earth's origin; and he experiences a new energy inside himself; which lift s him up to a higher existence.

As a drought and the Great Depression continue to ravage Fremont County, Kansas, Deborah Nelson is attempting to raise seven boys, with the help of her neighbors and the spirit of her beloved friend, Grandfather Blue Sky. With her husband, Christian, missing for two years, Deborah has had no choice but to learn to rely on herself in uncertain and challenging times.

Even as black blizzards rage throughout the plains, Deborah is still determined not to return to Minnesota where life is sure to be easier. Thankfully, her bachelor neighbor, Victor Whitesong, has agreed to share parenting responsibilities, relieving some of her burden. Encouraged by the county agent, Deborah implements Roosevelt's conservation programs on her land. Tensions escalate as the KKK wreaks havoc on the community, forcing it to take action. Deborah and Victor fall in love. But they must keep their relationship secret, fearing the sheriff, who already abhors Deborah and suspects they caused harm to her husband, even though his body has never been found.

In this continuing historical saga, Deborah is about to discover the depths of racial prejudice when she opens her heart to her Indian friends and changes the dynamic of her family once again.

Young World War II veteran George Edwards needs a drink-all the time. Although it is a new year-1952-in New York City, George's life remains the same. As he centers his daily routine around a whiskey bottle, George begins to drive both himself and his devoted wife, Margie, straight into the depths of destitution. George is bitter. Once he was a star ballplayer with lofty goals, but his dreams have been shattered by the injuries he suffered while serving in North Africa. Now George entertains himself by insulting others, including Margie, a devoted Catholic who is torn between the demands of her faith and the need to escape the verbal abuse she endures daily. Desperate for love and attention, she somehow finds herself in bed with Doc Hayden. But even though George is a drunk, he is no fool. Now it appears that the only way George and Margie will ever survive is to go their separate ways. "I Really Wanna Go Home" is the compelling tale of a young couple's struggle to escape poverty and the effects of a debilitating disease destined to transport both on distinct journeys that soon meet in a catastrophic collision with destiny.

When they meet at a summer camp, two ten-year-old boys from opposite worlds become friends and begin an exciting series of exploits that will test their mettle and friendship. Court-ordered forced busing, for the sole purpose of integrating the school system, leads to tumultuous, chaotic times in a city suddenly torn apart by fear and prejudice.The two boys learn the meaning of courage when each must face the shadows of time that follow them from ghetto streets riddled with crime and hostility to unexpected dangers in the local mountains. When confronted with their most jeopardous adventure, DC and Henry meet their destiny.The time is the late 70's. The lives of our two young heroes become forever intertwined through circumstances no one could predict. Bravery is part of life, whether in the forests of Kentucky or in the 'jungles' of Los Angeles.Step into this fascinating, stirring epic of two boys swept up by turbulence and chaos. This is their story in the "Shadows of Time."

"A Blazing Gilded Age" is the epic story of a volatile nation burning with ambition, yet bleeding with injustice. It was a time of profound change; boldly transforming from an agrarian backwater into an industrial powerhouse. Center stage in this turbulent saga, are the Wozniaks; a poor coal mining family struggling to achieve the elusive American dream. Confronted by the evil ways of their ruthless and depraved boss, Archibald Desmond Huxley, the Wozniak family is thrust into utter turmoil, thus igniting a blazing journey of revenge and survival. During the Wozniaks' quest, the lavish lifestyle of Huxley and his fellow titans, including J.P. Morgan, Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Teddy Roosevelt, Mark Twain and others, are woven into the story line, thus painting a broad and vivid canvas of 19th century America. Springing to life are legendary figures and historic events that accurately depict an era boiling with bravado, innovation and astounding progress, yet blistering with corporate greed, class warfare, and political corruption. After many unexpected twists of fate (some fortuitous and others heartbreaking), the Wozniaks emerge victorious, thus finally achieving the American dream, yet not without scars. Both powerful and poignant, "A Blazing Gilded Age" serves as an entertaining and enlightening read of how and why America has gone astray, and why it became a world leader. While on a personal level, it imparts the harrowing, yet triumphant, tale of a family's struggle to survive in an age that, in many ways, was as dark and rough as coal, and, at times, could be as blazing as Hell.

The story opens with the main character, Roberto Alicante, a.k.a.

The Woolworths girls have come a long way together . . .

Fun loving Maisie, is devoted to her young family and her work at Woolworths. But her happy life with her RAF officer husband, their baby daughter leads her to think of the family she left behind . . . With the war now into its fourth year, what will she find when she sets about searching for them?

Sarah and her husband, Alan, are blissfully happy and long for a sibling for their daughter. But dark days lay ahead for this close family.

Freda heads home to Birmingham, to go in search of her family, back to the life she fled – far from the safety of Woolworths and her new friends.

With families’ separated by war, will the Woolworths girls be able to pull together?

Wartime at Woolworths is the third moving installment in the much-loved Woolworths series by bestselling author Elaine Everest.

Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder in the cutthroat art auction world. She’s an associate specialist at Sotheby’s now, but her boss has hinted at a promotion if she can close a deal with a high-profile client. She’s not engaged just yet, but she knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galápagos—days before her thirtieth birthday. Right on time.

But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It’s all hands on deck at the hospital. He has to stay behind. You should still go, he assures her, since it would be a shame for all of their nonrefundable trip to go to waste. And so, reluctantly, she goes.

Almost immediately, Diana’s dream vacation goes awry. Her luggage is lost, the Wi-Fi is nearly nonexistent, and the hotel they’d booked is shut down due to the pandemic. In fact, the whole island is now under quarantine, and she is stranded until the borders reopen. Completely isolated, she must venture beyond her comfort zone. Slowly, she carves out a connection with a local family when a teenager with a secret opens up to Diana, despite her father’s suspicion of outsiders.

In the Galápagos Islands, where Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was formed, Diana finds herself examining her relationships, her choices, and herself—and wondering if when she goes home, she too will have evolved into someone completely different.

On a frigid January night in 1937, a fierce windstorm arrives in an already ravaged western Kansas, bringing with it the most tragic of Deborah Nelson's experiences with the Depression and Dust Bowl on her western Kansas farm.

Deborah has already seen more than her share of hardship in the years since her husband, Christian, disappeared and left her a single mother in charge of their farm. For six years, Deborah and her neighbors, Victor Whitesong and the Goodmans, have valiantly battled relentless windstorms with limited success.

Now, as a new year of drought and dust begins, Deborah rides out to check her fences and finds a neighbor's child dead in a drift of dirt. Sadly, it is only the beginning of more challenges. Measles hits the community's children, including Deborah's son. Desperate for help, Deborah must send her remaining children away. Emotional and health problems worsen in the community. In the meantime, she must deal with Sheriff Stoddel, who hates her because he believes she is Indian. He is convinced she and Victor have killed Christian. The only saving grace is her loving relationship with Victor, as she hopes for rain and prays that a world war is not imminent.

Sky Bird continues the saga of one woman's struggle to endure adversity and find joy in the uncertainty pervading America in the late 1930s.

Spanning four generations and an infinite range of human emotions, "When We Were Young" is the story of the Mitchell family, beginning in England at the outbreak of World War II and chronicling the triumphs and tragedies of those tumultuous times. Most of all, it is the story of Jim Mitchell, a young, ambitious English boy, hardened by his wartime experience. Eager to grasp life's opportunities, he embarks on an adventure peopled by a rich cast of characters he meets along the way. The raven-haired, charismatic, Maggie Bernadette O'Toole, rebellious daughter of his father's sister, and her Irish immigrant husband; James Thompson, marine engineer extraordinaire, friend, world traveler, and mentor. Nikolai Concalves Cavalantis, an older Brazilian playboy, who was heir to one of the world's leading hotel corporations and his young olive-skinned wife, the beautiful Maria; Lydia Louise Henning, a brilliant academic who served in the SAS during World War II and was captured by the German Gestapo and brutally tortured, leaving her with a fear of men; Jim Mitchell, his grandfather, a farmer, lay preacher, and mentor in his forma