Böcker av Steve Wiegenstein

A bestselling book, an exhibit featuring the Hill-Billies of Heaven Holler, and a brutal murder turn the excitement of 1904 World's Fair into a nightmare for the people of Daybreak. Country and city collide when Charlotte Turner's son Adam turns their sleepy Ozarks village of Daybreak into a tourist attraction with his bestselling novel The Hill-Billies of Heaven Holler. But his idea of setting up a hillbilly exhibit at the 1904 World's Fair has unforeseen consequences in all directions as Charlotte, her granddaughter Petey, and the rest of Daybreak are caught up in the exoticism, greed, and danger that surround the event. Adventure leads to violence at home and at the Fair, and Charlotte must make life-of-death choices to keep Petey safe and preserve her beloved community.

Set during the brink of the Civil War, this beautifully written novel traces James Turner, a charming, impulsive writer and lecturer; Charlotte, his down-to-earth bride; and Cabot, an idealistic Harvard-educated abolitionist as they are drawn together in a social experiment deep in the Missouri Ozarks. Inspired by utopian dreams of building a new society, Turner is given a tract of land to found the community of Daybreak: but not everyone involved in the project is a willing partner, and being the leader of a remote farming community isn't the life Turner envisioned. Charlotte, confronted with the hardships of rural life, must mature quickly to deal with the challenges of building the community while facing her husband's betrayals and her growing attraction to Cabot. In turn, Cabot struggles to reconcile his need to leave Daybreak and join the fight against slavery with his desire to stay near the woman he loves. As the war draws ever closer, the utopians try to remain neutral and friendly to all but soon find neutrality is not an option. Ultimately, each member of Daybreak must take a stand--both in their political and personal lives.

This collection of stories brings together a wide cast of characters, all connected to the Ozarks - natives and transplants, young and old, wicked and innocent, troubled and happy, God-haunted and just plain haunted. These stories range over human experience from madness to reconciliation and everything in between, told in precise, poetic language that leaves a permanent impression.

The community of Daybreak survived the war. Can it survive the peace? After the war, James Turner and the other men of Daybreak return home to find that war has changed their Utopian community forever. Charlotte Turner, Marie Mercadier and the other women they left behind survived raiders and bushwackers, raised up children, and survived on little more than dogged determination. Now that the men are back--those who fought for the North and those who fought for the South--the community must somehow put the past behind them. But some carry scars too deep to heal, and others carry hate they have no intention of letting go.

The inhabitants of Daybreak, a quiet 19th-century utopian community, are courted by a powerful lumber and mining trust and must search their souls as the lure of sudden wealth tests ideals that to some now seem antique. And the courtship isn't just financial. Love, lust, deception, ambition, violence, repentance, and reconciliation abound as the citizens of Daybreak try to live out oft-scorned values in a world that is changing around them with terrifying speed.