One woman's search for identity and love in late 19th/early 20th century St. Augustine, Florida.
Welcome to St. Augustine, Florida - 1897!
The town is a top winter destination thanks to its large tourist resorts such as Henry Flagler's Ponce de Leon, the Alcazar, other smaller hotels and inns, temperate weather and its proximity to the sea.
Birdie Fairfax, a mixed raced young woman, has just been hired by the new Montclair hotel. Despite her multi-ethnic heritage, she never feels excepted by the whites, blacks or even the Dominicans in her own family.
Only the racially colorblind Newt Phillips, a white gardener at the Montclair, truly loves and accepts Birdie for who she really is. Unfortunately, social convention as well as the law of the South prohibit them from expressing their love openly or marrying.
Birdie's talent at sewing and needlework will help facilitiate her rise through the ranks of the Montclair and help her survive the hardship amd adversities she will face over the ensuing decades.
Set against the colorful and opulent backdrop of the Montclair hotel, follow the lives of Birdie and her friends as they laugh, cry, survive and grow theoughout the years.
Professional Reviews
Excellent storyline..l
Once I started reading, I couldn't put the book down. Read it in 3 days! Excellent story line and the way the Author illustrated the time period based on true history of Saint Augustine. Excellent story of how a young girl of mixed race successfully overcame adversities of racism, hatred and violence back in the 1890s. Great job in illustration of Birdie's adversaries and the demons they were battling and how Birdie's love of people and outwon any hatred thrown her way. Excellent book to read for the summer. Great for high school kids to learn a little history and facts.
If you love quality historical fiction, this book is for YOU
Wow! Linda White's first book is a true gem! Historical fiction depicted in such great detail I find myself lost in the book. What will happen to Birdie and Newt? Their friends? Can't wait for another from this author! She's got it! The gift to write a book I cannot put down.
Riveting Novel
A captivating story that brings you into the life of the main character, Birdie, who struggles with racial identity. I can imagine this as a movie or mini-series. The characters are so well developed that several could be featured in novels of their own.
Tralee, Ireland. September 1948.
An arrogant, and highly agitated, priest arrives home after 40 years.
Days later he's dead. Suicide? Or did his past catch up with him?
Ireland 1967. The Summer of love. Or was it?
A holiday weekend. Amazing weather. American student Dakota Lacey is hiking around Kerry.
But there’s a sinister, dark side to the atmosphere. Lone female hikers are being brutally attacked.
Ireland 1947. Seven weeks of relentless snow. Guard Eamon Foley is searching for a missing child.
At Toby Appleyard’s farm, he discovers the kitchen littered with dead cats. And the skeletal remains of a woman. Upstairs, Toby is dead in his bed.
