Beneath the Surface

Two miles from a rural Tennessee town stands a large manor house, abandoned to time. For nearly all of her ninety years, Nola Robbins has collected stories of people associated with the house out at Blackwater Pond. Many were women whose names are forgotten in the history books, but whose legacies continue in ever-widening circles. It's time their stories were told.
Ann, a Confederate widow, granny woman and midwife, trusted her intuition and healed a Yankee captain, rather than let him die in jail. Margaret, despite the challenges of moving South shortly after the devastation of the Civil War, picked up her pen and vowed to fight ignorance and injustice. Malinda, devastated by loss, opened her heart and home to orphaned children. Francine, restricted by her health, limited finances, and sexist laws, found a path forward.

Told largely through diary entries, letters, and stories, Beneath the Surface: A Novel of Blackwater Pond is their story: a family saga juxtaposed against the tapestry of American history. From pre-Civil War days in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to modern times in the Sequatchie Valley, the novel explores how women navigated the limitations and challenges of those rapidly changing times.