The Cherokee Rose: A Novel of Gardens and Ghosts

Miles (The House on Diamond Hill) crafts a moving historical novel around the intersecting stories of five women: three in the present and two in the past. All have chipped shoulders, but each one pins her hopes of confrontation and healing on a Georgia plantation. Owned by Chief James Hold in the early 19th century, the Cherokee Rose Plantation is operated with cruelty, although the chief agrees to host an Indian mission school to play nice with the local government. The missionaries and students transform the plantation in ways they could never have anticipated, creating ripples that would last into the present, when Jinx, Ruth, and Cheyenne all come to its doors for their own reasons. Miles effortlessly re-creates plantation life, but the women of this story are never overshadowed by their world. They are all complex female characters who are, yes, "strong," but also canny, uncertain, and headstrong. In other words, they are like real people: eager to both confront their issues and avoid them at all costs.