Cedar Hollow

Billy May Platte is a half Irish, half Cherokee Appalachian woman who learned the hard way that 1940s West Virginia was no place to be different. As Billy May explains, "We was sheltered in them hills. We didn't know much of nothin' about life outside of them mountains. I did not know the word lesbian; to us, gay meant havin' fun and queer meant somethin' strange." In 1945, when Billy May was fourteen years old and orphaned, three local boys witnessed an incident in which Billy May's sexuality was called into question. Determined to teach her a lesson she would never forget, they orchestrated a brutal attack that changed the dynamics of the tiny coal mining village of Cedar Hollow, West Virginia forever.

No one with Jessie's history of childhood trauma could make it through unscathed, and Jessie is no exception. As recounted in Appalachian Justice, Jessie is an adult survivor of horrendous childhood abuse suffered at the hands of her stepfather. At the age of thirteen, on a stormy night on top of Crutcher Mountain, Jessie was rescued by reclusive mountain woman Billy May Platte. Now, at the age of forty-seven, Jessie is a success, at least by all outward appearances. But underneath it all, Jessie still struggles to reconcile the broken pieces of her past. Little does she know, Billy May's dying wish may just bring her the peace she so desires. In honor of Billy May's final request, Jessie has invited an agency that works with children with developmental disabilities to establish a wilderness retreat on top of Crutcher Mountain. Everything has come together beautifully, until a series of strange events threatens to shut down the operation. Unsure what to expect, Jessie returns to West Virginia in search of answers and finds more than she bargained for. Along the way she falls in love with the residents of the Platte Lodge for Children, none more so than ten year old Robby O'Brien, a freckle faced, earnest little boy who was diagnosed at birth with Down Syndrome and who, upon the death of his grandfather, finds himself alone in a scary world. As Jessie searches for answers, determined to save not only the Lodge but Robby as well, she must open her heart to the truths she discovers and place her trust in a lonely little boy. It's only by doing so that she can save herself.

Beth Sloan has spent the majority of her life trying to escape the memories of a difficult childhood. Born into the infamous Pritchett family of Cedar Hollow, West Virginia, she grew up hard, surrounded not only by homemade stills and corn liquor, but by an impoverished family that more often than not preferred life on the wrong side of the law. After the mysterious death of her brother Luke at the age of thirteen, seventeen year old Beth and her younger sister Naomi ran away from home, never to return. As the years passed, Beth suppressed the painful memories and managed to create a comfortable, if troubled, life with her husband Mark and their two children in an upscale suburb outside of Memphis, Tennessee. But the arrival of an unwelcome letter threatens to change all that. Against her better judgment, and at the urging of her sister Naomi, Beth agrees to return to Cedar Hollow, to the memories she's worked so hard to forget. When old resentments and family secrets are awakened, Beth must risk everything to face the truth about what really happened to Luke that long ago summer night.

On the anniversary of her husband's death, forty-nine-year-old Emily Holt runs away, leaving an unmade bed, an unlocked house, two college-aged sons, and an overabundance of bad memories. Struggling to make peace with the death of a husband who'd been lost to mental illness, she vows to drive to the end of the road, which, she's surprised to find, is just outside the tiny mining town of Cedar Hollow, West Virginia. As Emily struggles to redefine and rediscover herself, the good folks of Cedar Hollow are more than happy to help.

The Cedar Hollow Series features the residents of the tiny coal-mining town of Cedar Hollow, West Virginia as they face the challenges and triumphs of life in Appalachia. Appalachian Justice chronicles the life of Billy May Platte, who, in 1945 when she was fourteen years old and orphaned, was brutally attacked by a group of local boys after her sexuality was called into question. Cedar Hollow would never be the same. Return to Crutcher Mountain follows up with Billy May's adopted daughter Jessie, herself the childhood victim of horrific abuse. Can Jessie put aside her fear and anger and learn to trust? Entangled Thorns follows the infamous Pritchett family, local moonshiners and career criminals in the tiny hollow. When adult daughters Beth and Naomi are called home after thirty years, they must face the demons of their past. Shadow Days recounts the journey of Emily Holt, a middle-aged widow and mother seeking to find herself when she literally stumbles her way into Cedar Hollow, where the locals are eager to lend a helping hand.