Gerald Harding Gunn, in A Rose for William Carter, tells a different story about the American Civil War. The South's Cavaliers, its pillared plantations, its slaves and gracious, well-mannered aristocracy will not be found here. Instead the reader will discover a story of enduring love...love stronger than death, in the daughter of a Yankee railroad worker come south, who is drawn to her husband's young cousin. It is the story of how an erroneous battle report became history and how 21st Century history professor William Carter and the woman he loves uncover the truth, contained in the travel trunk he inherits from his beloved Aunt Cille. Gerald Harding Gunn, in his first major work of fiction, blends the past with the present, with letters, hidden and waiting to be revealed, written during the turbulence that swept across North Georgia when Sherman marched south. A Rose for William Carter presents the reader with the profoundly moving story of two young lovers, Joanna and William Carter, who promise never to lose each other as they are swept up in the fire of war that marches into their North Georgia homeland, and face the bitterness and vengeance of the murderous John Carter, William's cousin, and Joanna's husband. The Civil War is a dramatic backdrop for a story of how love overcomes hate, how that love, symbolized by Joanna's roses, survives 150 years to reveal its power.

Kathleen Kelley, a young professional woman, and her three best friends from Ohio, move to Atlanta, Georgia to seek their fame and fortune. She begins a search to find her Civil War ancestors, a search that leads her to the mountain and an unexpected destiny that forever changes her life and the life of the man she loves. Lois Helmers and Jerry Gunn blend Civil War history with this mystical tale of haunting and the haunted, in this story of love, friendship and the supernatural. They say that all fiction is based on some fact; this story is no exception. I saw the ghosts in the story in March of 2008 at Cheatham Hill, just like I describe in the book. This book was a joy to write, and I really hope you enjoy -Lois Helmers-