Laurie Sanford
Often, talk of the South evokes visions of warm summer days, of Spanish moss clinging to sprawling oak trees and people drinking sweet tea on the back porch of a stately, historic home. It is, indeed, a unique and beautiful place. But the history there is much darker.
This is the journey that Eliza takes in The Winds of Freedom trilogy—the slow and painful realization that the existence she has always known is so much more complicated than she’s been led to believe. That the people she holds dear cherish immoral practices, and that all mankind is equal in God’s eyes.
In the years leading up to the American Civil War, the southern economy thrived on cheap labor. The extravagant riches of a few came on the backs of an enslaved people, kept in bondage by cruel practices and a lack of education. People misused Biblical texts to condone their behavior, driving them to inflict unspeakable pain on fellow human beings.
When Eliza’s eyes are opened to the dark side of an existence she has naively grown up in, she knows she can’t remain unmoved. Befriending and educating one of the slaves on her father’s plantation leads to a love story she never expected, but with it comes consequences she never imagined facing.
This story not only takes the reader on a journey through Eliza’s perspective, but through the slave Luke’s eyes, and those of the selfish and mean-spirited Lucy Monroe. It’s a road of self-discovery, of familial love and romance, and redemption. The events that transpire within these pages shake every character to the core, inevitably changing them.
If you dare to walk down an uncomfortable, soul-searching road, to consider what life must have been like on an antebellum plantation from all angles, then this story is for you. It’s an adventurous ride, filled with mystery, danger, and new beginnings. You will meet characters of every kind, travel the Underground Railroad, explore the unknown, and ultimately join in the fulfilling end.
