When the Jessamine Grows

For readers of Days Without End by Sebastian Barry,Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain and Enemy Women by Paulette Jilesan evocativemorally-complex novel set in North Carolina during the Civil Waras one woman fights to keep her family united and neutral during the most devastating and divisive period in American history. From one of the most powerful and authentic voices in Southern fiction comes a historical novel with an unforgettable heroine–the extraordinary Joetta McBridewho defiantly opens her North Carolina home and farm to soldiers from both sides during the Civil War. Talk of impending war is a steady drumbeat throughout North Carolinathough Joetta McBride pays it little heed. The small farm she tends with her husbandEnnisand their two sons provides all they need. Those who want to fight can fightbut Joetta considers her family to be neutral. That opinion isn’t shared by Joetta’s father-in-lawRudean. A staunch Confederate supporterhe fills his grandsons’ heads with stories about the glories of soldieringand insists that owning land and slaves is the only measure of success. When fifteen-year-old Henryimpressed by his grandfather’s storiesruns off to volunteerJoetta insists Ennis go and search for him. Weeks pass without word from either father or sonthough other soldiers pass the farmparched and growing ever wearier. Joetta offers water to allregardless of which uniform they wear. Her actions are deemed treasonous by townsfolk and the Home Guardbut Joetta won’t be swayed. After allthe wealthy find ways to stay away from battle. Why should poor men suffer and die on their behalf? Though shunned and strugglingJoetta remains committed to her principlesand to her belief that her family will survive. But the greatest tests are still to comefor a fractured nation and for Joetta and those she loves . . .