Based on real events beginning in 1797 – Rachel Taylor lives a rather mundane existence at the way station her family runs along the Wilderness Road in Tennessee. She attends her friend’s wedding only to watch it dissolve in horror as the groom, Wiley Harpe, and his cousin become murderers on the run, who drag their families along. Declaring a “war on all humanity”, the Harpes won’t be stopped, and Ben Langford is on their trail to see if his own cousin was one of their latest victims. How many will die before peace can return to the frontier?
Ruth’s life seems perfect. With a respectable job in a pharmaceutical conglomerate, a house in the Chicago suburbs, a caring pastor husband, and a well-behaved son, she’s a woman to emulate. When her widowed mother visits from Japan, she can no longer hide her irrational fear of death and her unforgiving heart. While both mother and daughter struggle with chronic diseases, Ruth’s new boss bullies her. Meanwhile, an anonymous letter accuses the pastor and his wife of grievous transgressions.
All Jakob Schmidt wants is to play music and marry his childhood sweetheart. Yet this is not the world he was born into. His cousin Friedrich arrives in 1923 and instantly becomes the paternal figure Jakob never had… until his estranged father moves back in.
Christmas has never given me anything to look forward to, but I’m learning to grit my teeth and get through the season without dragging too many people down with me. My reasons for hating Christmas are more than I’d ever admit to anyway.
Born the daughter of a Powhatan chieftain and a woman of unknown origins, Matoaka enjoys a carefree life. When strange men from across the eastern waters appear near her home, she regards them at first as a mere curiosity. Soon, though, she finds herself torn between friendship with one of their leaders and the opinions and politics of her elders.
Jakob Schmidt joined the SS for the pride and prestige of the uniform. Now, all of Berlin lies before him, from career prospects to beautiful women who would like nothing more than to spend an evening in his company. Yet beneath the façade he carries moral injuries he wants no one to see.
