Book Blurb:
Headless dolls, horse races, and arson—the tools of passion.
It’s 1899, and Caroline Corbett is ready for the twentieth century. She’s excited to find work and meet new people—but gets more than expected when a rough-hewn Lowcountry farmer and a small-town doctor both engage her affections.
The broad-shouldered, genial farmer is clear about his desires, and he’s there for her. The doctor is sophisticated, educated, and obviously the right choice—but sees no reason to dwell on certain realities.
In trying to decide between them, Caroline fails to consider the girl Jessie. A young sociopath bent on her own way, Jessie Bell sees very good reasons to dredge up unpleasant realities—and to create new ones. Before long, this South Carolina landscape is riddled with the detritus of her intense jealousies, which have set astonishing and horrifying events into motion.
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/silksophiaalexander
Author Bio:
Sophia Alexander writes character-driven historical fiction that grips readers' emotions and surprises them with unexpected twists. A Lowcountry native, she is the award-winning author of the Silk Trilogy. Her writing is inspired by historical fact, genealogical investigations, intuitive guesswork, and fanciful romanticizations. Sophia is a graduate of the College of Charleston and Bastyr University. She lives with her husband in Savannah, GA. Visit authorsophiaalexander.blogspot.com to sign up for her newsletter.
Editorial Review:
When they fell silent at times, the hum of the sewing machines would lull Caroline into her own private musings. As the needle pumped up and down to join the edges of the freshly-cut fabric, she thought about how her own life's adventures were finally beginning to unfold. Newfound friends and family, even a career and residence – her life was utterly different than just a couple of months before. Unlike the heroines in so many of her novels, however, she already knew with certainty that she would not be meeting her future husband in her workplace.
Following in the footsteps of Southern writers like Eugenia Price and Flannery O'Conner, Ms Alexander guides the reader into her world of moss-draped oaks, grand plantation homes, the loamy smell of the Lowcountry in South Carolina, and the lives of Caroline and Anne, best friends who dream of finding the perfect husband.
“Let's promise to never stop makin' memories – no matter what. As long as we have breath, we will live. Agreed?” Impressed with Caroline's suddenly profound and fiercely-determined expression, Anne and the girls solemnly swore on that overcast, moonlit night their commitment to living life in the moment. They never forgot that oath.
The time period, at the cusp and birth of the twentieth century when changing attitudes and fashions led the way before the Great War, Caroline and Anne dive into an independent lifestyle and career at the nearby mill, life behind a sewing machine which becomes more than either imagined. For Anne, her “eye” as a seamstress and designer takes flight while Caroline is intent on finding the man of her dreams. In the process, she finds two – Stephen, a handsome and sophisticated local doctor (her Prince Charming), and a Lowcountry farmer named Clayton whose unconventional ways sparks a wildness in Caroline. But all is not what it seems in this new found fairy tale.
First, with Clayton's little cousin, Jessie, a “broken” child who is determined to grow up and marry Clayton... and to keep anyone away who gets in the way of that dream. She is an odd and creepy creature, ignored, a young sociopath, reminiscent of Briony Tallis in Atonement mingled with some of the classic antagonists in mid-1980s classic Victorian romance novels, such as the ones by Victoria Holt. When her thinking mingles with religious fervor, that it is God's will for her to enact some of the things she does, Caroline's world begins to crumble around her.
Her mission had been miraculously accomplished, but Jessie lingered for a timeless moment to absorb the scene – the warm horse scent, the rays of sunlight dappling through the trees, the streak of dust on Mr. Swann's forehead. Flies already buzzed around him. Reverently, she stepped forward and leaned down to touch his forehead. Her fingers ran tentatively through his blond hair and sideburns, then lightly over the collar of his linen shirt. Full of awe at God's will, she slowly stepped backwards before turning to glide into the forest.
Second, with Jessie spurring the downfall, Caroline discovers secrets about her fiance, Stephen, and all the while fighting with her feelings about Clayton. Around her, the other characters' lives blossom into unexpected romances, burgeoning careers, and tragedies. Caroline's life becomes like a jasmine vine between Stephen and Clayton – sweet-smelling but tangled – and Jessie jealousy shadows her with one thought in her mind: Clayton will be hers.
She gazed in ecstasy at her beautiful wedding gown and slowly twirled once more. I'm gonna marry my prince. My storybook, fantasy prince. In this fairytale gown. The very gown that is gonna transform my dearest friend's career as she becomes a brilliant new design talent. Life is sweet and pure and gloriously right.
When Caroline discovers Stephen's secrets which threaten their life together, and after a violent event between the two of them, Stephen flees the Lowcountry and joins the fight in the Philippines as a doctor, leaving Caroline behind to face the consequences and thrust back into the arms of Clayton who becomes her rescuer at a very fragile time. Life moves on as she and Clayton marry... yet she never forgets Stephen, thinking he has died in the war, and they share a lifelong link between the two of them. Her marriage to Clayton sparks a fire in Jessie who becomes enraged and even more determined to bring Caroline to ruin. While Caroline adjusts to the life as a penniless farmer's wife, Anne's life soars as she becomes a famous fashion designer, which sometimes has Caroline question her decision in rejecting Stephen on that fateful night so long ago. Yet, fate is not done with any of them... especially when she runs into Stephen years later... alive. And with this, Jessie sees her opportunity to destroy Clayton and Caroline's marriage.
By day Stephen faced the horrors of the camp. By night Caroline's tear-stricken face and crimson-stained sheets flashed intermittently though dreams of mutilated American soldiers lying in congealed blood, of Filipino villages in cinders, heavy with the acrid smell of burnt flesh; echoes of Caroline's protests were punctuated by the unceasing, agonized cries from the concentration camp. Stephen lost track of the hours, and weeks turned into unbearable months of purgatory.
This intriguing tale of jealousy, of passion, of family, all set beneath the sprawling arms of the live oaks and antebellum marshy landscape of South Carolina is full of rich imagery and history of the time period. The fashions of the day, the silks and ruffles serve as a framework around this disturbing gothic-like romance and the author does a brilliant job in immersing you into the Lowcountry life with the character's backstories, customs, and unique personalities. The situations and the characters are believable, sometimes very naive, yet very human in their desires and goals which do well to connect the reader to the narrative. Not to mention, if you love a story with a mouth-dropping unexpected ending, then this is the one for you, and it also sets the stage for the next in this series.
*****
“Silk” by Sophia Alexander receives five stars and the “Highly Recommended” award of excellence from The Historical Fiction Company
Award:
