Monthly Archives: March 2008

Diana Gabaldon. The Outlander Series.

These novels in the popular Outlander series picks up the story of 20th-century time-traveler Claire Randall and her 18th-century Scottish husband Jamie Fraser as they continue their adventures in the American colonies. Largely set in the colony of North Carolina in the 1760s and 1770s, Claire and Jamie must navigate through the political tensions leading up to the American Revolution, and the war itself, with the added twist that they know the outcome of the coming war. Rich in historical description, humor, and romance, these books add four more tales to the saga of the Frasers.

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Filed under Gabaldon, Diana, Historical, Novels in Series, Series

Isabel Zuber. Salt. New York: Picador, 2002.

Set in the fictional mountain town of Faith, N.C. at the turn of the century, Salt is the story of Anna Stockton, an independent young woman who dreams of a better life away from home, and her unlikely husband, John Bayley, an older man consumed by status and greed. Zuber pays close attention to historical detail, providing a careful description of domestic life in the North Carolina mountains in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There is a town named Faith in Rowan County, however, the setting of Zuber’s story clearly takes place much farther to the west.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2002, Historical, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Zuber, Isabel

Lynn York. The Piano Teacher. New York: Plume, 2004.

Miss Wilma, the longtime piano teacher in the fictional small town of Swan’s Knob, N.C. (based on the author’s hometown of Pilot Mountain), lives a life of quiet routine until her rebellious daughter Sarah shows up on her doorstep. It turns out the excitement is only beginning, as Sarah is followed by her ex- husband and her current boyfriend. When a local police officer is murdered, the attention of the town turns quickly toward the new arrivals. The story is told from several points of view, including those of Miss Wilma and of Roy Swann, an aging, affable bachelor who has had his eye on the prickly piano teacher for years.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2004, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Surry, York, Lynn

Thomas Wolfe. O Lost. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2000.

O Lost is the original, unedited version of Look Homeward, Angel, Thomas Wolfe’s classic novel about a sensitive young man growing up in pre-Depression Altamont, a fictional version of the author’s hometown of Asheville. Wolfe’s manuscript was cut and reshaped by the author with the help of legendary editor Maxwell Perkins. Now readers can see the raw material for themselves, including a long introductory section on protagonist Eugene Gant’s ancestors in the Civil War.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000, 2000-2009, Buncombe, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Wolfe, Thomas

Martha Witt. Broken as Things Are. New York: Henry Holt, 2004.

Fourteen-year-old Morgan-Lee divides her summer between spending time with her autistic and occasionally abusive older brother and developing a crush on a childhood friend. Morgan-Lee’s parents, aunt, and younger sister are too caught up in their own lives to pay much attention, leaving the young narrator to take the first steps into adulthood on her own. The story is set in a piedmont North Carolina town similar to the author’s hometown of Hillsborough.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

Comments Off on Martha Witt. Broken as Things Are. New York: Henry Holt, 2004.

Filed under 2000-2009, 2004, Orange, Piedmont, Witt, Martha

Sharon Wildwind. Some Welcome Home. Waterville, ME: Five Star, 2005.

Elizabeth Pepperhawk has just come back from Vietnam to serve at the army hospital at Fort Bragg.  She had barely arrived when she comes across the dead body of a solider who was supposed to have died overseas two years before.  When the Military Police are hesitant to pursue the case through to the end, Pepperhawk enlists the help of officer Avivah Rosen and the two women track the clues on their own.  The story is told from the alternating perspectives of Pepperhawk and Rosen and is a rich glimpse into life on a military base in the early 1970s.

This is the first novel in the Elizabeth Pepperhawk/Avivah Rosen Vietnam Veteran Mystery Series.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

Comments Off on Sharon Wildwind. Some Welcome Home. Waterville, ME: Five Star, 2005.

Filed under 2000-2009, 2005, Coastal Plain, Cumberland, Mystery, Novels in Series, Wildwind, Sharon

William R. Trotter. “Pride” Civil War Novels.

In these two novels, Trotter dramatizes many of the important events and individuals in coastal North Carolina during the Civil War. The Sands of Pride is set in Wilmington during 1861 to 1863 when the port city was the center of Confederate blockade-running efforts. The Fires of Pride continues the story through the end of the war, with a long section on the Union assault on Fort Fisher. Trotter is able to trace several narratives throughout the chaos of battle, with many of his characters based on actual people. Trotter is also the author of a multi-volume history of the Civil War in North Carolina, and can be counted in these novels to provide accurate depictions of events, and careful attention to historic detail.

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Filed under Coast, Historical, New Hanover, Novels in Series, Series, Trotter, William R.

Judith Minthorn Stacy. Maggie Sweet. New York: HarperCollins, 2004.

When Maggie Sweet discovers that her husband has spent the family vacation money on a pair of cemetery plots, she’s not happy. With her twin daughters nearly grown and her husband pretty much on auto-pilot, Maggie reflects upon a life lived largely for others and decides that it’s time to do something on her own. When an old high-school boyfriend shows up in town, Maggie finds the old flames renewed, especially as he encourages her to pursue her dream to work as a cosmetician at the local Curl & Swirl. The novel is set in the fictional western North Carolina town of Poplar Grove, possibly based on the author’s hometown of Mooresville.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2004, Iredell, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Piedmont, Stacy, Judith Minthorn

Judith Minthorn Stacy. Betty Sweet Tells All. New York: HarperCollins, 2002.

Four generations of Sweet women are held together by the unflappable Betty Sweet of Poplar Grove, N.C. Her daughter Maggie causes a stir by running away from her husband and family, while Betty’s mother, Mama Dean, continues to wreak havoc in the house. In the course of dealing with her wacky family, Betty’s own life takes a significant turn when she begins spending time with Poplar Grove newcomer Charlie Love, who has charmed Betty with his English accent.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

Comments Off on Judith Minthorn Stacy. Betty Sweet Tells All. New York: HarperCollins, 2002.

Filed under 2000-2009, 2002, Iredell, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Piedmont, Stacy, Judith Minthorn

June Spence. Change Baby. New York: Riverhead, 2004

When Avie Goss returns to her hometown, the fictional Regina, N.C., to care for her elderly mother, she finds more than she had expected. The simple family relationships that she had known growing up turn out to be much more complicated than she had thought. The story is told from the alternating viewpoints of Avie, her mother Zephra, and Zephra’s close friend Mabry. As Avie untangles family mysteries, changes loom in her own life when she begins dating a local minister.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2004, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Spence, June