Essie's Roses

<p><strong>#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.</strong></p><p>Impressively well written from beginning to end<em> Essie's Roses</em> is an inherently absorbing and skillfully presented read establishing author Michelle Muriel as an exceptionally talented novelist.<strong><em> - Midwest Book Review</em></strong></p><p>...tremendously impressive debut novel ... A richly moving reading experience.<strong><em> - Historical Novel Society</em></strong></p><p>Miss Muriel's novel is a thing of beauty. 5 Stars!<strong><em> - Readers' Favorite</em></strong></p><p>...all I can say is - wow what an amazing read. ...I fully expect to see <em>Essie's Roses</em> 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)!<strong><em>- Feathered Quill</em></strong></p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>After scandal befalls Westland Evie and Essie aged nineteen travel to RichmondVirginia 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.</p><p>A story about a black slave who frees a white woman <em>Essie's Roses</em> 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?</p>