Gretchen Craig

Elysium: Book Iv of the Plantation Series Gretchen Craig

Publisher Marketing: "Gretchen Craig's best-selling saga continues in Elysium: Book IV of the Plantation Series." A woman with a secret, Lily Palmer flees with her six year old daughter to take refuge on her uncle's farm in Louisiana. Here she finds herself in a world struggling with the after effects of the Civil War. For the first time, Lily is confronted with her own careless assumptions about race as she learns to appreciate the humanity of everyone around her, white and black. Threatening the fragile peace she achieves, her futile love for Alistair Whiteaker collides with her own dark past, shattering all hope for a new life. Alistair Whiteaker returns from the war determined to make amends for having owned the men and women who toiled on his plantation. Sickened by his part in perpetuating slavery, he works to thwart the aims of white supremacists and violent racists. At the same time, he longs to make a family with Lily Palmer and her daughter. To do that, he must first eliminate the man who inflicts another kind of injustice on the woman he loves. Besieged by assaults from The Knights of the White Camellia, Thomas Bickell uses every ounce of his talent and courage to win suffrage for black men. An ex-slave himself, he knows Emancipation is not enough: To attain true and full citizenship, his people must have the vote. When Fanny Brown is assaulted by white supremacists whose true target is Thomas himself, he realizes his greatest challenge may be to reclaim the heart of his beloved. Contributor Bio:  Craig, Gretchen Gretchen Craig's lush, sweeping tales deliver edgy, compelling characters who test the boundaries of integrity, strength, and love. Told with sensitivity, the novels realistically portray the raw suffering of people in times of great upheaval. Having lived in diverse climates and terrains, Gretchen infuses her novels with a strong sense of place. The best-selling PLANTATION SERIES brings to the reader the smell of Louisiana's bayous and of New Orleans' gumbo. CRIMSON SKY evokes the lives of people living under a searing sun among the stark beauty of mesas and canyons. THEENA'S LANDING summons the sweltering humidity of the Florida Everglades, the flash of scarlet ibis, and the terror of being stranded in a hurricane. Readers of romance and readers of historicals find that Gretchen's novels straddle the fence. Fortunately, there is a category that fits her novels very well. Gretchen writes historical novels with romance elements (indeed her first awards were in that category), and her novels therefore deliver the sweetness and emotional depth of romance combined with thorough research and historical interest. Visit her website at www.gretchencraig.com.