Leslie K. Simmons Pens a Masterpiece

Red Clay, Running Waters is a story of profound love, sacrifice, and the meaning of home woven into the complex strands of politics, race, religion, and love.

Red Clay, Running Waters is a masterwork that shines a light not only on America’s genocidal policies toward the Native Americans but also on those brave souls who fought against them.”

— Jodi Daynard, Author of The Midwife’s Revolt

UNITED STATES, January 11, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Title: Red Clay, Running Waters
Author: Leslie K. Simmons
Publisher: Koehler Books
Genre: Historical Fiction, Biographical Historical Fiction, US Historical Fiction
Release date: December 19, 2023

Before the Civil War. . . Before the Trail of Tears . . .

Red Clay, Running Waters is the untold true story of the courageous mixed-race couple at the center of the Indian Removal crisis

When John Ridge, promising son of a Cherokee chief, leaves his native land in the south for an education in the New England, he believes the missionaries promises of salvation and equality. His ability to navigate both worlds - Red and White - far exceeds expectations. While there, he finds an unsanctioned love that transcends prejudice and social conventions, but the union outrages the community. John returns to his family wiser, and with the hand of his White bride, Sarah Northrop, firmly placed on his arm.

John and Sarah's visions of an independent Cherokee Nation appear within reach when they find their dreams of a better world threatened by the increasingly volatile relations between the Cherokee and the neighboring State of Georgia.

Taking the mantle of leadership forged with his father, John is propelled to stand against the forces of injustice dragging the Cherokee and the United States into an escalating crisis that challenges the moral fiber of America and divides the country.

Peace at home evades when tensions rise between the Southern states and the federal government, pulling the couple into the crossfire of a divided country on the brink of civil war. Under the yoke of disenfranchisement, unbearable abuses, and tyranny, the Ridge’s abiding love for their nation unite them in purpose, forcing them to risk everything for their people’s future, and to test the limits of individual commitment to forestall a Cherokee diaspora.

Leslie K Simmons writes about people at the center of defining moments in the American past, using the power of Historical Fiction to illuminate and reveal how a past we didn’t live shapes the lives we live today. After decades of research, Leslie followed a path marked by serendipities to the story she knew she had to write, her debut novel, RED CLAY, RUNNING WATERS.

Leslie has taught a course on Native Americans of the Southeast, restored two 19th Century houses (one award winning), and holds a degree in Anthropology and Art. She has been a member of the Trail of Tears Association since 1999, belongs to the Women's Fiction Writers Association, and the Historical Novel Society. She is also a contributing moderator for the American Historical Novels Facebook group.

Interested in purchasing the book? Visit Koehler Books to make your purchase. https://www.koehlerbooks.com/book/red-clay-running-waters/

Leslie K. Simmons
Author
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