Fate Morelands Widow

Corruption, infatuation, and conflicting loyalties collide in a rural Southern mill town in this debut novel by an award-winning poet and environmentalist. On a placid Blue Ridge mountain lake on Labor Day Weekend in 1935, three locals in an overloaded boat drown, and the cotton mill scion who owns the lake is indicted for their murders. Decades later Ben Crocker—a reluctant participant in the aftermath of this long-forgotten tragedy—is drawn back into the morally ambiguous world of mill fortunes and foothills justice. The son of mill workers in Carlton, South Carolina, Crocker works as bookkeeper to the owner, George McCane. And when McCane decides to lay off families connected to the Uprising of ‘34, Crocker finds himself in the ill-fitting position of enforcer. But days after the evictions, a surprise indictment lands McCane in jail and sinks Crocker even deeper into the escalating tensions. While traversing mountain communities in McCane’s defense, Crocker must also negotiate with labor organizers and fend off his family’s skepticism of his social aspirations. Meanwhile, hanging over Crocker’s upended life is his infatuation with Novie Moreland—the young widow of a man McCane is accused of killing. Looking back on this crucial period of his life, Crocker knows he must seek out Novie Moreland once more if he is ever to find closure with the past. Foreword by New York Times best-selling author Wiley Cash

"Writer Pat Conroy passed away in 2016 at age 70. He was the author of The Water is Wide, The Great Santini, The Prince of Tides, and Beach Music, among other works. Several of his books have been made into movies starring actors including Robert Duvall, Barbra Streisand, and Jon Voight. This book collects in one volume seventy entries from people who all knew a different facet of Pat Conroy: writers, poets, editors, musicians, friends, classmates. Contributors include Rick Bragg, Kathleen Parker, Nikky Finney, Mary Alice Monroe, Dori Sanders, Ron Rash, Janis Ian, Tony Grooms, Patti Callahan Henry, Connie May Fowler, Sandra Brown, Jonathan Carroll, Jonathan Galassi, Nathalie Dupree, and Wendell Minor, as well as several members of the Conroy family. Additionally, the book includes a gallery of photos of Conroy, many never seen by the public before"--

What does it mean to know a place? What might we learn about the world by returning to the same place year after year? What would a long-term record of such visits tell us about change and permanence and our place in the natural world? This collection explores these and related questions through a series of reflective essays and poems on Pennsylvania’s Shaver’s Creek landscape from the past decade. Collected as part of The Ecological Reflections Project—a century-long effort to observe and document changes to the natural world in the central Pennsylvanian portion of the Appalachian Forest—these pieces show how knowledge of a place comes from the information and perceptions we gather from different perspectives over time. They include Marcia Bonta’s keen observations about how humans knowingly and unknowingly affect the landscape; Scott Weidensaul’s view of the forest as a battlefield; and Katie Fallon describing the sounds of human and nonhuman life along a trail. Together, these selections create a place-based portrait of a vivid ecosystem during the first decade of the twenty-first century. Featuring contributions by nationally known nature writers and local experts, Reading Shaver’s Creek is a unique, complex depiction of the central Pennsylvania landscape and its ecology. We know the land and creatures of places such as Shaver’s Creek are bound to change throughout the century. This book is the first step to documenting how. In addition to the editor, contributors to this volume are Marcia Bonta, Michael P. Branch, Todd Davis, Katie Fallon, David Gessner, Hannah Inglesby, John Lane, Carolyn Mahan, Jacy Marshall-McKelvey, Steven Rubin, David Taylor, Julianne Lutz Warren, and Scott Weidensaul.

Two women kept apart by segregation at a Southern cigar factory forge a powerful alliance in the labor rights movement in this historical novel. With evocative dialect and remarkable prose, The Cigar Factory tells the story of two entwined families—the white McGonegals and the African American Ravenels—in the storied port city of Charleston, South Carolina, during the World Wars. Moore’s novel follows the parallel lives of family matriarchs working on segregated floors of the massive Charleston cigar factory, where white and black workers remain divided and misinformed about the duties and treatment received by each other. Cassie McGonegal and her niece Brigid work upstairs in the factory rolling cigars by hand. Meliah Amey Ravenel works in the basement, where she stems the tobacco. While both suffer in the harsh working conditions of the factory and endure the sexual harassment of the foremen, segregation keeps them from recognizing their common plight until the Tobacco Workers Strike of 1945. Through the experience of a brutal picket line, the two women discover how much they stand to gain by joining forces, creating a powerful moment in labor history that gives rise to the Civil Rights anthem, “We Shall Overcome.” Moore’s historical research includes interviews with family members who worked at the cigar factory, adding nuance and authenticity to her empowering story of struggle, loss, and redemption. Foreword by New York Times best-selling author Pat Conroy Winner of the 2016 David J. Langum, Sr. Prize

Contributors include Rick Bass, David James Duncan, Gretel Ehrlich, Kate Harris, and Deborah A. Miranda Explores Lopez’s writing about the natural world in the context of current concerns about the planet’s future Shares stories of Lopez’s travels, inspirations, and friendships Barry Lopez was not only a writer, but also a traveler, visionary, and someone with a deep love for humanity and the natural world. Going to See illuminates how the stories he shared with us were like stones in a pond, sending ripples throughout not just a world of readers, but also a network of writers. Here, 30 of those writers reflect on Lopez’s tremendous influence on their work and their lives. From stories of intimate conversations with Lopez, to insightful examinations of his writing and outdoor experiences, to deeply heartfelt tributes about his generosity of spirit, what emerges is a "many-sided" portrait of Lopez, as co-editor James Perrin Warren writes. It’s also a celebration of the fellowship of writers that Lopez helped create, writers who are committed to serving the natural world, human and nonhuman communities, and the planet we all share.

The first three novels in the series, featuring a physician in the British countryside who knows all too well that death isn’t always from natural causes . . . This three-in-one murder mystery collection, written by a former practicing physician praised for her “great characters” (Peter Boon, author of Who Killed Miss Finch?), includes: Death by Appointment Dr. Cathy Moreland needs time to heal, having recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder while struggling with a painkiller habit. A village on Scotland’s coast promises respite, but after Cathy attempts to get an opiate prescription, things don’t go well—and when she discovers the body of a fellow doctor, her sanctuary is shattered. Murder & Malpractice Returning to work after battling mental health challenges, Dr. Cathy Moreland finds her surgery in the British countryside simmering, as usual, with tensions. One doctor struggles to keep up with the changes in the medical field; another, ambitious and aggressive, is romantically entangled with a nurse. The newest arrival, a pharmacist, seems very competent—but his behaviour is mysterious. When one of them dies after drinking a cup of coffee, the practice is thrown into chaos. Circumstances seem to point toward one partner—but Cathy intends to examine the evidence more closely . . . Deadly Diagnosis As Betty Scott is dying, she warns Dr. Cathy Moreland that danger lurks at the charity shop where she volunteers. But the only clue she provides is a reference to the now-derelict psychiatric hospital called Fernibanks. Then Betty is found dead—but not from natural causes—and Cathy is compelled to investigate . . .