When her wealthy father dies, Mary Carlisle, who is blind, depends on her kinsman, Basil Severn, to manage her mills, stocks, land, and money. This works well until Arnold Devereux comes to Stansbury (thought to be Salisbury) to claim Mary Carlisle’s inheritance. When a court case goes against Devereux, he tries to gain Mary’s wealth by wooing her. Devereux is not the only person who is eyeing Mary’s wealth, and it takes loyal friends such as Basil and his sister, Madeleine, to see that her wealth is preserved. Love interests complicate matters for all the main characters.

Check this title’s availability and access an online copy through the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: January 5th, 2009 under 1870-1879, 1876, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Novels to Read Online, Piedmont, Reid, Christian, Rowan.
Comments: none

Young Rosyln Vardray has just reached the age when she can think about marriage, and this young woman has many suitors. She rejects the affections of her stepbrother and a much older, wealthy man in favor of the handsome outsider, Victor Laurent. When she learns that Laurent is engaged to someone else, she turns away from him. That should be the end of the story, but the actions of an sinister neighbor, Mr. Stanley, and the kind Colonel Duncan keep the possibility of a marriage to Laurent alive. It takes a near-fatal accident for Rosyln to see the true character of each of her suitors. The action takes place in Eldon County, which most readers have taken to be Rowan County.

Check this title’s availability and access an online copy through the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: January 5th, 2009 under 1880-1889, 1885, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Novels to Read Online, Piedmont, Reid, Christian, Rowan.
Comments: none

This romance, set in North Carolina during the later years of the American Revolution, follows the fortunes of two officers. Francis Duane, a lieutenant-colonel on Lord Cornwallis’ staff, and Curtis Baird, a captain in the Continental Army, contend on and off the field. Duane is betrothed to Isabel Burton, daughter of a prominent Salisbury Loyalist, but the actions of Isabel’s plucky cousin Sarah touch Duane’s heart. Baird suspects that Isabel does not agree with her father’s politics, nor with his plans for her future. This book works better as an historical novel than as a romance. General Nathanael Greene and Lord Cornwallis appear throughout the book, and the novel includes a detailed account of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.

Check this title’s availability and access an online copy through the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: November 7th, 2008 under 1900-1909, 1901, Brady, Cyrus Townsend, Guilford, Historical, Novels to Read Online, Piedmont, Romance/Relationship, Rowan.
Comments: none

This part-memoir, part-novel alternates the story of Buddy, a southern boy growing up in the 1940s, with a fictional recreation of the lives of Lea and Amos, Buddy’s Cherokee ancestors. Through the two stories readers can learn about the enslavement of Native Americans, mill village life, and mid-twentieth century Southern popular culture.

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Posted: May 29th, 2008 under 2000-, 2006, Cabarrus, Historical, Piedmont, Rowan, Strickland, Buddy.
Comments: none

The chance for easy money tempts both the haves and the have-nots in this novel set along the Yadkin River near Salisbury. When Adam Chase, acquitted of a local murder years before, comes back to Rowan County, he finds that suspicion of him has not faded. He also discovers that the duplicity that wrecked his past may wreck both his future and the lives of the people he loves. When Chase tries to renew his tattered relationships, he uncovers secrets that upend his understanding of his past and set a new cycle of violence in motion.

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Posted: April 28th, 2008 under 2000-, 2007, Hart, John, Mystery, Piedmont, Rowan.
Comments: none

When Ezra Pickens is found murdered, there is no shortage of suspects in Salisbury, N.C. The wealthy but unpopular lawyer made a lot of enemies over his long career and it’s left to his son and partner, Jackson, to unravel the mystery.

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Posted: April 15th, 2008 under 2000-, 2006, Hart, John, Mystery, Piedmont, Rowan.
Comments: none