Book picks similar to
The Tree of Forgetfulness by Pam Durban


fiction
historical-fiction
american-south
not-purchased

The Last Letter


Kathleen Shoop - 2011
    A timeless tale of redemption with the best plot-twist at the end I've seen in a long, long time. Can't wait for book two!" New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Melissa Foster Katherine wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't found the letter... In the summer of 1905 Katherine Arthur's mother arrives on her doorstep, dying, forcing her to relive a past she wanted to forget. When Katherine was young, the Arthur family had been affluent city dwellers until shame sent them running for the prairie, into the unknown. Taking her family, including young Katherine, to live off the land was the last thing Jeanie Arthur had wanted, but she would do her best to make a go of it. For Jeanie's husband Frank it had been a world of opportunity. Dreaming, lazy Frank. But, it was a society of uncertainty--a domain of natural disasters, temptation, hatred, even death. 

 Ten-year-old Katherine had loved her mother fiercely, put her trust in her completely, but when there was no other choice, and Jeanie resorted to extreme measures on the prairie to save her family, she tore Katherine's world apart. Now, seventeen years later, and far from the homestead, Katherine has found the truth – she has discovered the last letter. After years of anger, can Katherine find it in her heart to understand why her mother made the decisions that changed them all? Can she forgive and finally begin to heal before it's too late? **Independent Publisher Awards** 2011 Gold Medal, Best Regional Fiction-Midwest **National Indie Excellence Book Awards** 2011 Finalist Award-Historical Fiction 2011 Finalist Award-Regional Fiction **USA Best Books 2011 Awards** Winner, Fiction--Western Finalist, Fiction--Historical Finalist, Best New Fiction **International Book Awards** 2011 Finalist Award-Historical Fiction 2011 Finalist Award-Best New Fiction

Freshwater Road


Denise Nicholas - 2005
    As the long, hot summer unfolds, Celeste befriends several members of the community, but there are also those who are threatened by her and the change that her presence in the South represents. Finding inner strength as she helps lift the veil of oppression and learns valuable lessons about race, social change, and violence, Celeste prepares her adult students for their showdown with the county registrar. All the while, she struggles with loneliness, a worried father in Detroit, and her burgeoning feelings for Ed Jolivette, a young man also in Mississippi for the summer.

Rocky Mountain Redemption


Lisa J. Flickinger - 2020
    If only she could out run the lingering nightmares.Charles Bailey, camp foreman and Stony Creek's itinerant pastor, develops a reputation to match his new nickname — Preach. However, an inner battle ensues when the details of his rough history threaten to overcome the beliefs of his young faith.Amid the hazards of camp life, the unlikely friendship growing between the two surprises Isabelle. She's drawn to Preach's brute strength and gentle nature as he leads the ragtag crew toiling for Pollitt's Lumber. But when the ghosts from her past return to haunt her, the choices she will make change the course of her life forever—and that of the man she's come to love.

The Death of Joan of Arc


Michael Scott - 2010
    She was rescued from certain death by Scathach the Warrior.The truth about that day is revealed in the last will and testament of William of York, and it will leave you wondering: does Joan of Arc still walk the earth?

Long Man


Amy Greene - 2014
    But as Long Man opens, the Tennessee Valley Authority's plans to dam the river and flood the town of Yuneetah for the sake of progress-to bring electricity and jobs to the hardscrabble region-are about to take effect. Just one day remains before the river will rise, and most of the town has been evacuated. Among the holdouts is a young mother, Annie Clyde Dodson, whose ancestors have lived for generations on her mountaintop farm; she'll do anything to ensure that her three-year-old daughter, Gracie, will inherit the family's land. But her husband wants to make a fresh start in Michigan, where he has found work that will secure the family's future. As the deadline looms, a storm as powerful as the emotions between them rages outside their door. Suddenly, they realize that Gracie has gone missing. Has she simply wandered off into the rain? Or has she been taken by Amos, the mysterious drifter who has come back to town, perhaps to save it in a last, desperate act of violence? Suspenseful, visceral, gorgeously told, Long Man is a searing portrait of a tight-knit community brought together by change and crisis, and of one family facing a terrifying ticking clock. It is a dazzling and unforgettable tour de force.

Wish You Well


David Baldacci - 2000
    Then tragedy strikes -- and Lou and her younger brother, Oz, must go with their invalid mother to live on their great-grandmother's farm in the Virginia mountains. Suddenly Lou finds herself coming of age in a new landscape, making her first true friend, and experiencing adventures tragic, comic, and audacious. But the forces of greed and justice are about to clash over her new home...and as their struggle is played out in a crowded Virginia courtroom, it will determine the future of two children, an entire town, and the mountains they love.

We Are All Welcome Here


Elizabeth Berg - 2006
    Her new novel, We Are All Welcome Here, features three women, each struggling against overwhelming odds for her own kind of freedom.It is the summer of 1964. In Tupelo, Mississippi, the town of Elvis's birth, tensions are mounting over civil-rights demonstrations occurring ever more frequently-and violently-across the state. But in Paige Dunn's small, ramshackle house, there are more immediate concerns. Challenged by the effects of the polio she contracted during her last month of pregnancy, Paige is nonetheless determined to live as normal a life as possible and to raise her daughter, Diana, in the way she sees fit-with the support of her tough-talking black caregiver, Peacie.Diana is trying in her own fashion to live a normal life. As a fourteen-year-old, she wants to make money for clothes and magazines, to slough off the authority of her mother and Peacie, to figure out the puzzle that is boys, and to escape the oppressiveness she sees everywhere in her small town. What she can never escape, however, is the way her life is markedly different from others'. Nor can she escape her ongoing responsibility to assist in caring for her mother. Paige Dunn is attractive, charming, intelligent, and lively, but her needs are great-and relentless. As the summer unfolds, hate and adversity will visit this modest home. Despite the difficulties thrust upon them, each of the women will find her own path to independence, understanding, and peace. And Diana's mother, so mightily compromised, willend up giving her daughter an extraordinary gift few parents could match.

River of Spears


Kade Derricks - 2015
    The rarest of gems, one capable of turning any mage into an unstoppable force of destruction. A gem found only in the empty lands surrounding the Tyber River. And now war has come. Endless war between Esteria and the native Tyberons, a savage and mysterious people who prowl the grass-covered land with spearpoints ready. Unable to end the conflict the Esterians rely on mercenaries to bolster their military, desperate men like Dain Gladstone, a disgraced Paladin. Dain dreams of a peaceful life, a quiet home of his own, and he’s willing to fight for it. The Esterians have a new plan to conquer their enemies. A bold expedition to strike into the heart of the Tyberons and Dain finds himself caught at its center. Can his dream survive the River of Spears?

Light


Margaret Elphinstone - 2006
    Sisters-in-law Lucy and Diya are raising their children together far from prying Victorian eyes, even as they dread the day the outside world will come to their island. That invasion arrives in the form of a surveyor and his assistant, sent to the remote outpost because a new lighthouse must be built and, according to custom of the time, a man must be found to replace the current lighthouse keeper, Lucy. That Lucy does a man’s job and Diya turns out to be a highly educated Indian woman shocks and confuses the men, but soon romance blossoms. Faced with banishment from the only home she’d ever known, Diya’s hot-headed daughter attempts a terrible act that may lead the family to ruin. With an assured eye for capturing the alien beauty of the island, Margaret Elphinstone creates an empathetic and compassionate tale of two singular women coming to terms with a sea change in their lives.

The Balkan Escape


Steve Berry - 2010
    But when her presence is discovered by a shadowy group of Russians secretly mining the area, she needs a way out. Who to trust becomes the question, and her life depends on choosing the right option.Includes a sneak-preview of the Cotton Malone thrillers The Emperor's Tomb and The Columbus Affair.

Road to Reckoning


Robert Lautner - 2014
    His father, a traveling salesman hoping to earn money by selling Samuel Colt’s recent invention, the “Improved Revolving Gun,” takes young Thomas with him on the road. But even the world’s first true revolver cannot save them from danger, and what starts as an adventure soon turns into a nightmare.When his father is murdered, Thomas must rely on his own wits, courage, and determination, as well as a wooden replica of the Colt revolver, to protect himself. Luckily, an encounter with a surly ex-ranger, Henry Stands, leads to an improbable partnership, and the two set out in perilous pursuit of vengeance—that is, if they can escape the thieves who lurk around each trail, river, and road.In the spirit of The Sisters Brothers and True Grit, this spare, elegant, and emotionally resonant story conveys, through a boy’s eyes, the pain of losing a father as well as the fascinating history of how the birth of the revolver changed the course of violence in America. Road to Reckoning offers a window into the history of the American West and the heart of a boy yearning for love.

Torn Between Love and Family


Aurora Hanson - 2018
    An interest in an irrigation project, though, and a harrowing attack by local bandits drives her into town and into the company of two men; one could be the love of her life, while the other is her own long-lost cousin. Has she accidentally stumbled upon happiness? Amelia's hope of a new family is dashed when she discovers the truth.A complicated and tragic series of events have pitted Jonas Mayfield, a former missionary and Clayton Knight, a beloved and fair Sheriff, against each other. Both men have suffered many hardships in order to forget, before finding themselves in frontal attack, again. What could possibly cause such hatred between the two men?Amelia has to unite the two sworn enemies and bring all their resources to bear against the forces of nature and of man's most basic instincts. Love, life, everything is on the line for Amelia and her family. Will she be able to save her future, by solving the riddle of the mysterious past? Will she go as far as to put her own life at risk to save the family she's always dreamt of?"Torn Between Love and Family" is a historical western romance novel of approximately 90,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

The White Empress


Lyn Andrews - 1989
    She's full of hope, determined to make her fortune and be someone. Joe Calligan, a deckhand who saves Cat's life, can't bring himself to tell her, the most beautiful girl he's ever set eyes upon, that Liverpool is full of people walking the streets, looking for work. As soon as Cat sees the luxury liner the White Empress her heart is set on becoming Chief Stewardess. Despite her lack of money or education, Cat sets about achieving her incredible dream. Whilst doing so, she discovers that having a good man by her side will bring her more happiness than she could ever have hoped for.The White Empress is the story of a young woman who is determined to make her own way in life - and see the world whilst doing so.

Sons and Daughters


Margaret Dickinson - 2010
    Loved by most that she meets, Charlotte has a gift for friendship, and it is her work as a Sunday School teacher that gives her hope - and an escape from home. When Charlotte meets Miles Thornton, she is instantly drawn to him. He is new to the area and a widower, with three lovely young sons to look after but the one thing he has longed for is a daughter. As they grow to understand one another, it seems that Miles and Charlotte have more in common that meets the eye... Sweeping from the early 1920s through to the end of World War II, SONS AND DAUGHTERS is a compelling, traditional saga set against the Lincolnshire landscape that Margaret Dickinson portrays so well.

The Ranger's Wife


Eveline Hart - 2017
    Having moved to the American Frontier to escape his life as a political pawn for his family, he is content. Everything changes when he receives a letter from his father explaining that he is to marry one Elizabeth “Piper” Renwick. During their trip from Boston to Detroit, Jack learns what it means to be in love while dealing with bankers, a heist, and ultimately Piper- a woman capable of outwitting him at every turn. Will their adventure together on the frontier draw the two of them together or force them apart?