The Cherokee Rose

Three women uncover the secrets of a Georgia plantation that embodies the intertwined histories of Indigenous and enslaved Black communities—the fascinating debut novel, inspired by a true story, of the National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of All That She Carried, now featuring a new introduction and discussion guide. “The Cherokee Rose is a mic drop—an instant classic. An invitation to listen to the urgent, sweet choruses of past and present.”—Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, author of The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST Conducting research for her weekly history column, Jinx, a free-spirited Muscogee (Creek) historian, travels to Hold House, a Georgia plantation originally owned by Cherokee chief James Hold, to uncover the mystery of what happened to a tribal member who stayed behind after Indian removal, when Native Americans were forcibly displaced from their ancestral homelands in the nineteenth century. At Hold House, she meets Ruth, a magazine writer visiting on assignment, and Cheyenne, a Southern Black debutante seeking to purchase the estate. Hovering above them all is the spirit of Mary Ann Battis, the young Indigenous woman who remained in Georgia more than a century earlier. When they discover a diary left on the property that reveals even more about the house’s dark history, the three women’s connections to the place grow deeper. Over a long holiday weekend, Cheyenne is forced to reconsider the property’s rightful ownership, Jinx reexamines assumptions about her tribe’s racial history, and Ruth confronts her own family’s past traumas before surprising herself by falling into a new romance. Imbued with a nuanced understanding of history, The Cherokee Rose brings the past to life as Jinx, Ruth, and Cheyenne unravel mysteries with powerful consequences for them all.

Sustaining the Cherokee Family

Originally published: Sisters, Or.: Multnomah Publishers, c2006.

Three contemporary women discover historical truths about the Cherokee slaveholder who owned the GA plantation where their ancestors lived.

Looks at the history of the early assimilation of the Cherokee into the newly formed United States, and their later forced relocation along the Trail of Tears.

The Brutal Road West It’s late summer 1838. President Martin Van Buren issues an order that the fifteen thousand Cherokee Indians living in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina are to be evicted from their homeland. Forced to migrate to Indian Territory, the Cherokees begin their tragic, one-thousand-mile journey westward. Most of the seven thousand soldiers escorting them along the way are brutally cruel. But Cherokee Rose, an eighteen-year-old Indian girl, finds one soldier, Lieutenant Britt Claiborne, willing to stand up for them. Both Christians, Cherokee Rose discovers that Britt is also a quarter Cherokee himself. It’s upon the Trail of Tears that they fall in love, dreaming of one day marrying and finding a place to call home together. They found each other in the midst of tragedy… But is their love enough to keep them together? Cherokee Rose has endured more than any eighteen-year-old girl should. Though accepted by her tribe, being both mixed blood and a Christian set her apart. Then fifteen thousand Cherokee Indians are evicted from their homes in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. Broken and angry, Cherokee Rose joins her people on the thousand-mile trek westward to Indian Territory. The journey holds many trials—not the least of which is the cruelty of the soldiers escorting them. But Cherokee Rose is determined: these men will not break her. Lieutenant Britt Claiborne is devoted to serving his country, but he detests the way his fellow soldiers treat the Indians. He not only refuses to join in, but does all he can to stop the abuse. To the soldiers, he is a traitor. To those he helps, a champion. But Britt knows he’s only doing what he must, not just because he’s a Christian, but for a reason he’s reluctant to reveal. Thrown together in the face of brutality, these two find themselves falling in love. They dream of marrying and finding a place to call home. But can their love survive the Trail of Tears? “Cherokee Rose is a good story and a great way to learn about a historical event we would rather sweep under the rug.” --Lauraine Snelling, bestselling author of Amethyst Story Behind the Book Long captivated with the study of American history, Al and JoAnna Lacy eagerly researched the time in the 1800s when the five “civilized tribes” were forced by the U.S. government to make a one-thousand-mile journey to Indian Territory (now the state of Oklahoma). The tribes were the Cherokee, the Chickasaw, the Choctaw, the Creek, and the Seminole. Repeatedly forced to surrender their lands, the people of the Cherokee Nation, as well as those of the other four tribes, were hoping to find in Indian Territory a place to call home .

Historical saga romance, c: 1765-1845, Cherokee Nation, GA.

As a daughter of missionary parents in 1847, Elizabeth MacKenzie grows up in fear of the Cherokee. As a full-blooded Cherokee, Elias Chote keeps alive the tradition of his people, though he was schooled by white man's laws. But love at first sight is stronger than the laws of any people. From the author of Prairie Dreams.

Looks at the history of the early assimilation of the Cherokee into the newly formed United States, and their later forced relocation along the Trail of Tears.