Mercy Kaplan doesn’t want to be like her mother, saddled with crying kids and failing crops for the rest of her life. Mercy longs to be on her own—until her wish comes true in the worst possible way. It is 1918 and a deadly flu epidemic ravages the country, leaving her utterly alone and penniless.
Mercy soon finds a job with Mrs. Wilder. But there’s something unsettling about the woman, whose brother died under mysterious circumstances. And then there’s Daniel, who could sweep a girl off her feet if she isn’t careful.
You’d think every dang person from Lampasas to Houston wanted to go to Galveston this hot August day. Everyone but Seth.
Galveston, Texas, may be the booming city of the brand-new twentieth century, filled with opportunites for all, but to Seth it is the end of a dream. He longs to be a carpenter like his father, yet Papa has moved the family to Galveston so that Seth can become a doctor. Still, the last few weeks of summer might not be so bad. Seth has landed his first real job as a builder, and there’s that girl across the street, the one with the sun-bright hair. Things seem to be looking up . . . until a storm warning is raised one sweltering afternoon.
They say a north wind always brings change, but no one could ever have imagined this. Set during the Galveston Storm of 1900, this is an unforgettable story of survival in the face of natural disaster.
Sadie doesn’t want a new life; her old one suits her just fine. But times are hard in drought-plagued Missouri, and Daddy thinks they’ll be better off in Texas. It’s tough for Sadie to give up her beloved home for this strange place, where even children clean shrimp at the cannery to help make ends meet and where people are rude to her disabled father.
Yet when trouble comes, it is the kindness of these new neighbors that helps the family through. And no one helps more than Dollie, a red-headed chatterbox of a girl who just might become a good friend–if Sadie gives her half a chance.
Lyrical and vibrant, this is an unforgettable first novel about the true meaning of home.
