Thirteen-year-old Loyal Raines is supposed to stay close to home on a hot summer day in 1934. When he slips away for a quick swim in the river and finds a dead body, he wishes he'd obeyed his mother. The ripples caused by his discovery will impact the town of Beverly, West Virginia, in ways no one could have imagined.The first person those ripples disturb is Loyal's absentee father. When Creed Raines realized his infant son was deaf, he headed for the hills, returning only to help ...

Wonderful, simply wonderful. A story of love, healing, and forgiveness sure to grip the heart of every reader.--Debbie Macomber, New York Times #1 bestselling authorIn a Drought, It's the Darkest CloudThat Brings HopeIt's 1954 and Perla Long's arrival in the sleepy town of Wise, West Virginia, was supposed to go unnoticed. She just wants a quiet, safe place for her and her daughter, Sadie, where the mistakes of her past can s...

In Kristi Ann Hunter's "Legacy of Love," Sarah Gooding never suspected returning a brooch to an elderly woman would lead to a job . . . and introduce her to the woman's grandson, a man far above her station.In Karen Witemeyer's "Gift of the Heart," widow Ruth Albright uses the family brooch as collateral for a loan from the local banker. But the more she comes to know the man behind the stern businessman, the more she hopes for a second chance at love.In Sarah Loudin Thomas...

Set in the shadow of Biltmore Estate, a poignant tale of friendship, restoration, and second chances.Seven years ago, a hidden betrayal scattered three young friends living in the shadow of the great Vanderbilt mansion. Now, when Biltmore Industries master weaver Lorna Blankenship is commissioned to create an original design for Cornelia Vanderbilt's 1924 wedding, she panics knowing she doesn't have the creativity needed. But there's an elusive artisan in the Blue ...

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda is stunned to see Fritz's name in a photograph of an American memorial for German seamen who died near Asheville, North Carolina. Determined to reclaim his body and bring closure t...

As a thirteen-year alumna of Catholic schools, Sarah Thomas thought she knew all about them: why they exist, how they’re structured, and why they continue to be a powerful presence in American education. What she discovered, however, is that teaching in a Catholic school is, in many ways, not what she had assumed.Saving Minds, Saving Souls: Revitalizing Catholic Education Through Witness is based on Sarah Thomas’s ten-year journey trying to find a teaching position in a Ca...

Judd Markley is a hardworking coal miner who rarely thinks much past tomorrow until he loses his brother--and nearly his own life--in a mine cave-in. Vowing never to enter the darkness of a mine again, he leaves all he knows in West Virginia to escape to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It's 1954, the seaside community is thriving, and Judd soon hires on with a timber company.Larkin Heyward's life in Myrtle Beach is uncomplicated, mostly doing volunteer work and dancing at the Pavilio...

It's one thing to say you can find what people need--it's another to actually do it.It's 1932 and Sullivan Harris is on the run. An occasionally successful dowser, he promised the people of Kline, West Virginia, that he would find them water. But when wells turned up dry, he disappeared with their cash just a step or two ahead of Jeremiah Weber, who was elected to run him down.Postmistress Gainey Floyd is suspicious of Sulley's abilities when he appears in ...

When their worlds are upended, two women brought together by their loss discover what truly matters most.Claire Roth sacrificed love for a life of comfort on Lake Toxaway--until the dam broke, and the lake washed down the side of the mountain. Fourteen years later, she longs to see the lake restored to its former glory even as the country faces hard economic times on the eve of the Great Depression.Socialite Lena Hawkins married her first love, who swept he...

'Fascinating' - Robert Macfarlane, author of The Old Ways'Truly a thing of wonder' - Kerri ní Dochartaigh, author of Thin Places'Lyrical [and] thoughtful' - Cal Flyn, author of Islands of AbandonmentVisiting Iceland as an anthropologist and film-maker in 2008, Sarah Thomas is spellbound by its otherworldly landscape. An immediate love for t...

Colman Harpe works for the C&O in the Appalachian rail town of Thurmond, West Virginia, but he'd rather be a preacher and lead his own congregation. When a member of the rival McLean clan guns down his cousin and the clan matriarch, Serepta McLean, taunts the Harpes by coming to a tent revival in their territory, Colman chooses peace over seeking revenge with the rest of his family.Colman, known for an unnaturally keen sense of hearing, is shocked when he hears God tell him to prea...

Smart Stardom explores how contemporary celebrities are digitally replicated and re-circulated through advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer-generated imagery, real-time rendering, and virtual and augmented media.Discussing how these digital developments produce highly compelling virtual versions of real stars – what the book terms the “smart star” – whose digital identities remain anchored to recognisable, real-world figures,...