Book 1: ON GROUNDS OF HONOR
On Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the division of the Civil War is an inescapable reality for many households. For the Turner brothers, it means choosing politics over blood. Although his younger brother goes south to join the Rebels, Jeremiah feels honor-bound to defend the Stars and Stripes even at the risk of meeting Charlie on the battlefield and facing a deeper conflict of loyalties.
His wife, Clara, is left behind at Laurel Hill to manage the farm with her father-in-law and his slaves. As the country is torn apart by opposing forces from within, Clara must find the strength to live in a world of uncertainty and change.
What began as an act of patriotic loyalty for Jeremiah will become a test of character and courage. And as the death toll climbs into the thousands, Clara clings to the desperate hope that her husband will come back to her alive. Before it ends, the war will take far more than they could have anticipated. But in the wake of its destruction, Jeremiah and Clara will learn that sometimes victory can only come through surrender.
Book 2: FOR THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM
On Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the division of the Civil War is an inescapable reality for many households. For the Turner brothers, it means choosing politics over blood. At the outbreak of the war, Charlie enlisted in the Confederate Army to defend States Rights while his older brother, Jeremiah, chose to fight for the Union.
Three years later, an emaciated prisoner of war, Charlie is determined to escape Point Lookout Prison and make his way home to face the conflict awaiting him there.
When Abigail Sterret discovers a wounded man near her home, she is moved by compassion at the sight of the gaunt Rebel soldier. Risking the consequences of aiding the enemy, Abigail shelters Charlie at Bloomingdale and nurtures him back to health. As his wounds heal, she discovers that Charlie carries more secrets than she supposed, and Abigail is more involved than she presumed.
And though war may end with the sweep of a pen, peace comes far less easily.