
Essie's Roses
Michelle Muriel
(Author)Description
#1 Bestseller! Readers' Favorite Silver Medal Winner Best Southern Fiction. A sweeping, moving historical novel set before the Civil War about secrets, freedom, and the power of love.
"Impressively well written from beginning to end, Essie's Roses is an inherently absorbing and skillfully presented read, establishing author Michelle Muriel as an exceptionally talented novelist." - Midwest Book Review
"...tremendously impressive debut novel ... A richly moving reading experience." - Historical Novel Society
"Miss Muriel's novel is a thing of beauty. 5 Stars!" - Readers' Favorite
"...all I can say is - wow, what an amazing read. ...I fully expect to see Essie's Roses on the silver screen someday, but until then I will simply look forward to reading future works by this author. 5 Stars (and then add some more)!" - Feathered Quill
Growing up in the Deep South during the years leading to the Civil War, two young girls find freedom on a hillside overlooking Westland, an Alabama plantation. Essie Mae, an intuitive, intelligent slave girl, and Evie Winthrop, the sheltered, imaginative dreamer and planter's daughter, strike up a secret friendship that thrives amidst the shadows of abuse.
Told from the viewpoint of four women: Katherine Winthrop, kind mistress and unexpected heiress to her father's small, cotton plantation; Delly, her sassy and beloved house slave; Essie Mae, her slave girl; and Evie Winthrop, Katherine's only child, Essie's Roses tells of forbidden relationships flourishing in secret behind Westland's protective trees and treasured roses.
After scandal befalls Westland, Evie and Essie, aged nineteen, travel to Richmond, Virginia, to escape their abusive pasts. There, they face the gross indecencies and divisions leading to the War Between the States. Though the horrors of slavery and discrimination prompt action, Evie and Essie's struggles lie within. The secrets they hold and the pain of the past lead them away from one another and back home again.
A story about a black slave who frees a white woman, Essie's Roses reveals the innocence of children's friendships, the diverse meanings of freedom, the significance of a dream, and the power of love. In their efforts to save each other, will the women of Westland find the true freedom they desire?
Product Details
Publisher | Little Cabin Books LLC |
Publish Date | March 23, 2015 |
Pages | 346 |
Language | English |
Type | |
EAN/UPC | 9780990938309 |
Dimensions | 9.0 X 6.0 X 0.9 inches | 1.5 pounds |
About the Author
Reviews
"...all I can say is wow, what an amazing read.What a well-written, completely believable and insightful book. Essie's Roses is a 'fictional' novel, yet it encompasses the same importance of message, and will certainly remind readers of their intrinsic knowledge of right versus wrong with the same quiet strength of conviction that Harriet Beecher Stowe provided to her readers when she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin. Michelle Muriel has penned a wonderfully moving work of fiction. I fully expect to see Essie's Roses on the silver screen someday. Five Stars!"-Charline Ratcliff, Feathered Quill Book Reviews
"Miss Muriel's novel is a thing of beauty. I loved the changing perspectives. It was refreshing to see various points of view of the same story, and the author did it seamlessly. I could tell the author took a great deal of time researching the era, and that is something I always appreciate in a historical novel. Overall, Essie's Roses will make you laugh and cry, but most of all, appreciate the innocence of children's friendship. Michelle Muriel should be very proud of her accomplishment in this novel and I will happily recommend it on to others." -Heather Osborne, Readers' Favorite
"Michelle Muriel's tremendously impressive debut novel takes place in the Antebellum South and centers on the experiences of four remarkable women... Muriel does an extremely confident job of moving her complex, multi-part novel forward. Her characters are vividly drawn, and the many period details - social, linguistic, and even literary - with which she fleshes out her story never feel forced or melodramatic. Fans of both Gone with the Wind and Geraldine Brooks' March will find Essie's Roses a richly moving reading experience." -Historical Novel Society
"Impressively well written from beginning to end, "Essie's Roses" is an inherently absorbing and skillfully presented read, establishing author Michelle Muriel as an exceptionally talented novelist." -Midwest Book Review
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