First published 2014
James Turner comes home to Daybreak after the war ends. The utopian community he left behind looks different now. Charlotte Turner and Marie Mercadier kept the settlement alive while the men fought. They faced raiders and bushwhackers. They raised children with little food and fewer resources. They survived on determination alone. Now the veterans return. Some fought for the Union. Others fought for the Confederacy. The community that once shared common dreams must find a way forward. The women proved they could manage without the men. The men carry wounds from battles far from home. Some injuries run deeper than others. Certain grudges refuse to fade. Daybreak survived the violence of war. The harder test comes with peace. Old bonds strain under new realities. Former neighbors who fought on opposite sides must live together again. The community faces a choice between healing and division.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Daybreak
Period: Post-Civil War
214 pages · Paperback · Blank Slate Press