Moon Over Taylor’s Ridge

Janie Dempsey Watts

Little Creek Books

When Avie returns home to Taylor’s Ridge, a small community near Ringgold, Georgia, to settle her father’s estate, she finds her childhood home thick with relatives and neighbors she remembers. Some are friends and others are decidedly not. Aunt Ardelia is spying on her and everyone else in the community. Her brother and half-sister have plans of their own for daddy’s estate and particularly the land. Her son, Joseph, seems to be stronger and handling his asthma better as her husband, a continent away in California, is distant and preoccupied with work. The storekeeper Xylia seems to be the only friendly face in the crowd.

Into this scenario steps Will, a new friend of Cherokee heritage, happy to befriend Avie and Joseph. As Xylia assists Joseph in his search for the legendary Cherokee silver mine on Taylor’s Ridge, Will provides insight into the culture of a people brutally removed from their homes and shipped to Oklahoma after gold was discovered at nearby Dahlonega. This culture is still an undercurrent in the Southeast, and Avie discovers just how significant it is to our country, its traditions, and her family. She faces a dilemma, as she confronts an unworkable present, an uncooperative family and a possible new romance. In the end, she finds the strength to face her fears, to fight for what she believes and to take brave steps into a brighter future.

The role of the moon, I leave for the reader to find in the pages of this book. Moon over Taylor’s Ridge is a riveting tale, through which Janie Dempsey Watts weaves the strands of interrelated narratives. Read this book today.