NATIONAL BESTSELLER A dark and riveting story of the legacies—of magic and madness, faith and secrets, passion and loss—that haunt one family across the generations. Myra Lamb is a wild girl with mysterious, haint blue eyes who grows up on remote Bloodroot Mountain. Her grandmother, Byrdie, protects her fiercely and passes down “the touch” that bewitches people and animals alike. But when John Odom tries to tame Myra, it sparks a shocking disaster, ripping lives apart. "A fascinating look at a rural world full of love and life, and dreams and disappointment." --The Boston Globe "If Wuthering Heights had been set in southern Appalachia, it might have taken place on Bloodroot Mountain.... Brooding, dark and beautifully imagined." --The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Southern Cunning is a journey through the folklore of the American South and a look at the power these stories hold for modern witches. Through the lens of folklore, animism, and bioregionalism the book shows how to bring rituals in folklore into the modern day and presents a uniquely American approach to witchcraft born out of the land and practical application.
Perfect for fans of Wendy Walker and Samantha Downing, in this thrilling domestic suspense novel, a woman fights to hide her secrets as her life's idyllic façade begins to fall apart. Cape Morgan, Maine, is the utopian ideal for a charmed life, and Beatrice Wicker knows it. The multi-million-dollar house on the sea coast. The joint bank accounts. The safety and security that go along with being married to an esteemed architect and community leader. The scenic coastline, perfect for her ambitious plan to turn an abandoned asylum into an artists’ retreat. So what if her husband sneaks off to see his second family now and again? Beatrice is willing to look the other way. It’s simply the price she must pay to keep their life together. Josh doesn’t realize that Beatrice knows about his other life. That’s just one of Beatrice’s secrets. And now, that truth—along with a deadly host of other secrets from the past—is about to upend their false paradise. When there’s an explosion at the local elementary school playground, and a two-year-old boy is abducted, it doesn’t take Beatrice long to make the connection between the missing boy and her husband. It was the son from Josh’s other life who was kidnapped, and Josh can’t do anything about it without revealing the truth. Helping Josh find his son would destroy the façade of her perfect marriage and could put more children’s lives in danger. But that’s not all. It would reveal her deeper secret: Beatrice Wicker is not who she claims to be.
Rom-Com Ghost Mysteries by Award-Winning Author Maggie Shayne Johnny’s would-be girlfriend has called it quits, his newfound grandfather has pulled a vanishing act, and his odd connection to the dying has mutated into something else altogether, something he doesn’t understand. Suffice to say, he was already having a lousy week when a kid came tearing out of the woods like the devil was chasing him and right into the path of his truck. Teenage Ryan isn’t too badly hurt, but it turns out the seventeen-year-old has a serious ghost problem. He was convinced no one would believe him or be able to help him even if they did. But that was before he met Johnny and the gang at Spook Central. Johnny takes Ryan and his gorgeous older sister Breia to Kiley and Jack’s no-longer-haunted Victorian money pit, which is also the gang’s ghost-busting headquarters. But Kiley’s not so sure the house is phantom-free. She says she’s heard a female's smoke-and-whiskey voiced laughter a couple of times, which is weird as she's a total muggle. Maya, their resident Wiccan, sets wards around the place to keep ghosts away while Johnny sets wards around his heart to stay in the friend-zone where she's put him. Her reasons are both practical and ridiculous since she’s as drawn to him as he is to her. Also, he’s pretty sure their fates are entwined. Soon, however, they’re both too busy trying to protect a young boy and stay alive while doing it. Spirits the likes of which they've never encounter, unleash hellish fury on them all, and survival takes precedence over their own star-crossed journey to love. A romantic comedy ghost mystery.
The 5 book episodic Way Makers series Overground, Underground, On the Water: a Journey to Freedom tells the story of three 21st century African American siblings: Eleven-year old Rheena Mackey, who is recognized by her tenacity and her thick mane of dark curly locks, and her little brother Zachary, who needs medication to help him focus his energy, and their willful older brother, 17-year-old Hoban Cruz, who has a Puerto Rican father. The three siblings are being raised by their single mom and have lived and played in Brooklyn, NY all their young lives. That is, until they are uprooted from their familiar urban life and moved by their mother, to the relatively safer rural Upstate NY Catskills Mountain home of their grandfather. Papa, as they have come to call this proud old Black man, loves his African American heritage. He alternately entertains, then bores his young family when he shares his accumulation of knowledge and his vast collection old photographs, crinkled newspaper clippings, small carvings, African drum and other artifacts, buttons, beads, stones and the like that clutter his bedroom. Among his treasures is ewe, the talking drum. Papa tells outlandish tales about Africa, of the Middle Passage, American slavery, the Underground Railroad and America’s Black people’s struggle for freedom and civil rights, insisting in his singsong Gullah accent: “It be a magical ting!” and “It be for troot!’ At one point, Hoban, who has fair skin (because he’s part Puerto Rican and part Black,) teases his little sister when he notices that some of the individuals in Papa’s collection of photographs of dirt-poor Blacks bear an uncanny resemblance to her and her their little brother. I came to this story because as a teacher in the inner city I have noticed it is often difficult for 21st Century African American children, or mixed-race children to appreciate what our ancestors have endured for us to exist in the relative comfort of modernity. One Saturday morning, in Over Ground, Underground, On the Water: a Journey to Freedom, during what seems like a typical Catskill Mountain storm …. there is rain, thunder, and lightning • Rheena and Zachary are home by themselves, • Papa has passed away, • Mom has gone to work, • Hoban has spent his Friday evening with new friends, and regrettably has not yet come home, the two MacKey children toy with ewe, the talking drum and are abruptly transported back in time and space to 1847 American, deep into life on a rice Plantation in swampy South Carolina. Not long after they arrive, their older brother Hoban follows them. The Way Makers series is historical fiction; therefore, we are introduced to actual places, events and people who indeed are America’s history. For example, we discover it is Civil War photographer, Matthew Brady who took the photograph that Hoban teased his sister about. We learn of The Pearl, a schooner that secreted runaway slaves from DC to Baltimore, and of the vibrant community of Black Horsemen and women of Philadelphia that still exists to this day. In this past, the trio discover firsthand the harsh realities of plantation life. They learn of the cruel humiliation of slavery and the auction block. The children become separated, • sold off the plantation, • reunited, • they escape from dangers seen and unseen. • they learn what to eat, what not to eat. • They have unexpected friendships and betrayals that follow runaways on the Underground Railroad. • They meet Native Americans and Quakers who become allies. • They discover the salvation of maps in the form of hand-sewn quilts hidden in plain sight. • They walk, travel by sea, pass through tunnels dug under houses, cellars and church basements in Maryland, Ohio, and New York. • They meet the Black cowboys of Philadelphia and attend a Pinksters celebration. • They live in free Black communities in Brooklyn and what is now Central Park in NYC. All on a Journey to Freedom. Is their 21st-century urban wit
Come with us for a moment out onto the porch. Just like that, we’ve entered another world without leaving home. In this liminal space, an endless array of absorbing philosophical questions arises: What does it mean to be in a place? How does one place teach us about the world and ourselves? What do we—and the things we’ve built—mean in this world? In a time when reflections on the nature of society and individual endurance are so paramount, Charlie Hailey’s latest book is both a mental tonic and a welcome provocation. Solidly grounded in ideas, ecology, and architecture, The Porch takes us on a journey along the edges of nature where the outside comes in, hosts meet guests, and imagination runs wild. Hailey writes from a modest porch on the Homosassa River in Florida. He sleeps there, studies the tides, listens for osprey and manatee, welcomes shipwrecked visitors, watches shadows on its screens, reckons with climate change, and reflects on his own acclimation to his environment. The profound connections he unearths anchor an armchair exploration of past porches and those of the future, moving from ancient Greece to contemporary Sweden, from the White House roof to the Anthropocene home. In his ruminations, he links up with other porch dwellers including environmentalist Rachel Carson, poet Wendell Berry, writers Eudora Welty and Zora Neale Hurston, philosopher John Dewey, architect Louis Kahn, and photographer Paul Strand. As close as architecture can bring us to nature, the porch is where we can learn to contemplate anew our evolving place in a changing world—a space we need now more than ever. Timeless and timely, Hailey’s book is a dreamy yet deeply passionate meditation on the joy and gravity of sitting on the porch.
Tampa Bay Magazine is the area's lifestyle magazine. For over 25 years it has been featuring the places, people and pleasures of Tampa Bay Florida, that includes Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg. You won't know Tampa Bay until you read Tampa Bay Magazine.
More than two dozen tales of ghosts, unexplained phenomena, and other spooky happenings in Savannah, GA, the city of legendary ghosts. Includes information so readers can check out the spirits themselves -- if they dare.
Discover inspiration from the most colorful homes in America with this vibrant lookbook and style manual that brings the magic of color into your home—from the author of Living with Pattern Personalizing your color palette may be one of the most important decisions you make in your home. The right combination of hues can set the mood and transform any room from ordinary to magical. Textile designer Rebecca Atwood invites you to take a color journey in this stunning yet practical guide. In Living with Color, you’ll tour beautifully designed homes to see some of the most interesting uses of the rainbow and to gather inspiration for your own spaces. You’ll train your eye to notice how color lives all around you, from the pink light bouncing off a building you see every day to the exact blue of the ocean on your last getaway. You can even learn how to express yourself through your own custom palette with Rebecca’s accessible, illustrated overview of color theory. As you embark on your color hunt and begin to trust your own instincts, Living with Color will embolden you to breathe life into every part of your home.
Told by master storytellers Darkness Prevails and Carman Carrion, Appalachian Folklore Unveiled unveils the mysteries behind Appalachian folklore, ghosts, creepy creatures, superstitions, and omens, walking the reader through a little-known land of magic and lore that stretches from Canada to the Southern United States.
