Spotlight On: When the Jessamine Grows by Donna Everhart
I set the story during a very familiar timeframe, that of the Civil War, but I feel like it is uniquley different from any other Civil War story.. For one thing, Joetta McBride and her husband Ennis live in Nash County, North Carolina, They are substinance farmers or “yeoman” farmers. That is where you grow your own food to feed yourself and your livestock. Yeoman farmers made up 65% of the population of North Carolina at that time. They did not own slaves, they were neutral and didn’t want anything to do with the war. The other thing about this book that makes it uniquely different is that it’s not about the War. Instead, I write about the families who are left behind women like Joetta McBride, who are required and compelled to keep food on the table, keep the farms running, keep their families together. The American Iraqi activist Zainab Salbi says if we are to understand War then we need to understand not not only what happens on the front lines but what happens on the back lines as well, where women are in charge of keeping the family going. And that is the essence of what this book is about.
― Donna Everhart, at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe
What booksellers are saying about When the Jessamine Grows
- Good book! The Confederacy has been on my mind often recently, as there a monument near our bookstore when I bought it three years ago; my store was boycotted during the pandemic when a few folks on the internet determined I was a supporter of it’s removal from our town square, so I could relate to this character’s struggle to remain true to her values while worrying about survival. I hope this book will give many readers new insight into the complexities of Southern women’s existence during the Civil War. Little was recorded for posterity regarding those who did not support the Confederacy’s position on slavery, yet many people did live in the South who did not believe in secession – with some losing their lives to maintain their moral codes; this book helps shed some light on those important stories, which deserve telling.
― Alissa Redmond, South Main Book Company in Salisbury, North Carolina | BUY
- Historical fiction at its absolute best! Everhart’s carefully crafted female protagonist shows strength, courage and resolve in the face of the many cruelties of the Civil War. Joetta McBride is not your usual demure Southern Belle. She refuses to take sides in a conflict she feels has nothing to do with her family, while her oldest son is eager to fight for the Southern cause. Once her son flees to fight for the Confederacy, Joetta’s husband also gets caught up in the fight while searching for their son leaving Joetta to care for the farm and remaining family on her own. Facing isolation and destruction from the townspeople for offering water to a Union soldier, Joetta deals with grief, starvation and ruin with grace and grit. Even though she could face dire consequences, she still shows compassion to a young Union soldier who is on the verge of death. Everhart has created a new hero with the unflinching, steadfast and ever-courageous Joetta McBride!
― Sharon Davis, Book Bound Bookstore in Blairsville, Georgia | BUY
- Lovers of historical fiction will devour this Civil War-era story that takes place in North Carolina. When everyone is taking sides in the war, Joetta McBride and her husband choose to stay neutral, but when their oldest son leaves against their wishes to join the Confederacy, they are forced to get involved. Joetta is left to run their farm and house while Ennis goes off to hopefully find and bring back their 15-year-old son. Readers will love Joetta’s strong convictions and determination to keep things afloat in the midst of war and upheaval. A great read!
― Mary Patterson, The Little Bookshop in Midlothian, Virginia | BUY
About Donna Everhart
Donna Everhart is a USA Today bestselling author known for vividly evoking the challenges of the heart and the complex heritage of the American South in her acclaimed novels When the Jessamine Grows, The Saints of Swallow Hill, The Moonshiner’s Daughter, The Forgiving Kind, The Road to Bittersweet, and The Education of Dixie Dupree. She is the recipient of the prestigious SELA Outstanding Southeastern Author Award from the Southeastern Library Association and her novels have received a SIBA Okra Pick, an Indie Next Pick, and two Publishers Marketplace Buzz Books selections. Born and raised in Raleigh, she has stayed close to her hometown for much of her life and now lives just an hour away in Dunn, North Carolina.
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