In this surprising novel, Sunni Mercer offers a compelling story of resilience during an era when struggle was collective and culture unforgiving. After freeing herself from an abusive husband, Thelma Fillman resolves to provide a safe home for her boys. Like thousands of single mothers during the 1930s, she navigates the Great Depression and Jim Crow oppression while endeavoring to hold her small family together. Thelma’s ingenuity adds intrigue to a journey fraught with challenge and threat. She experiences cycles of elation and anguish, discrimination and friendship, love and loss. In a painful twist of fate, Thelma must make the ultimate choice. Her decision initiates an inspiring degree of courage and hope that puts her resourcefulness to the test. Thelma will transfix the reader with its suspenseful survival story.
The Whiskey Woman of Wilson's Creek by John Hutchinson
In 1861, Union soldier and Episcopal seminarian Private Krieger Andrewes is severely wounded at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in southwest Missouri. Facing surgical amputation of his leg and probable death at the hands of a field surgeon, Krieger is spirited away from the battlefield by a mysterious backwoods woman who calls herself a healer. She saves Andrewes and nurses him back to health until Krieg returns to Saint Louis to resume his studies. Both Krieg and the healer consider their callings, commitments, and what love looks like in the midst of a dangerous war that jeopardizes their futures. Buttressed by painstaking historical research, Whiskey Woman, introduces one of the most engaging female characters in literature and follows two characters through a harrowing but inspiring ride amidst the struggles of war. Told without sentimentality and moralization, this story introduces readers to the vibrant and colorful culture that marked the Ozarks in the mid-nineteenth Century.
TIG by Sunni Mercer
When Tig is dumped off at a derelict hovel in northwest Oklahoma, he is forced to reconcile with his indigence and his past. In spite of his physical disabilities and debilitating anxiety attacks, Tig finds asylum and beauty amidst the feral and unforgiving terrain. Solitude and contemplation lead Tig to realize the poverty of his spirit and his need for absolution. Throughout his struggle to survive, the unlikely generosity of a small ranch community provides for his physical needs and bolsters his broken spirit. Over time, Tig methodically learns to trust again. Through tragedy, Tig discovers the resilience of his inner sanctuary, the power of relationships, and the endurance of love.