Pillow of Thorns
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Karen Cecil Smith has written a fictionalized story based on the first woman to be tried for murder in North Carolina. The year is 1850. It is a time of slavery, superstition, and social snobbery. Exotic and shapely beauty Maria Stafford stands accused of killing her prosperous, older husband.
An artful, false woman shall set thy pillow with thorns,” declares the prosecution in one of North Carolina’s most sensational murder trials.
From the moment Maria sets eyes on Sherwood Stafford, a distinguished New Yorker who has just moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina, she dreams of becoming his wife. Maria wants a home of her own, complete with servants, cook, and personal seamstress. The local fortuneteller predicts the two will wed.
Their storybook wedding and fashionable honeymoon provide brief happiness for Maria. She is disappointed in her marriage and disgusted with her hypochondriac husband. Eyes of envious women are on her as she proudly strolls the streets of Fayetteville in all her finery. Note is taken of her daily visits to the fortuneteller and clandestine meetings with an old beau.
When Sherwood Stafford falls ill and dies, townsfolk whisper that his wife killed him. A bench warrant for Maria’s arrest is issued. What follows is an adventure that takes the reader aboard a ship bound for Cuba with a side trip to the low country of Charleston, South Carolina.
“I tried to stay true to history and to the actual murder trial,” said the author, “but I did delve more into the life of the actual fortuneteller and other interesting characters, such as the household slaves, a free mulatto, and a pirate turned sailor.”
Pillow of Thorns is a page-turning novel that will keep the reader wondering, right up to the end, if Maria is guilty or innocent of the crime for which she is accused.
Related to Pillow of Thorns
Related ebooks
Spellcaster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everybody's Lonesome: A True Fairy Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClotelle; Or, The Colored Heroine, a tale of the Southern States; Or, The President's Daughter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwice Upon a Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Illhenny Murders Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Never Kiss a Notorious Marquess: A Witty Victorian Historical Romance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Black Midnight Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Dear Duchess Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Earl's Lady Geologist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5RSVP to Murder: A Blackwell and Watson Time-Travel Mystery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Seeing Garden: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Clotelle: A Tale of the Southern States Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHave Your Cake and Kill Him Too: The Blackbird Sisters, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMurder by the Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Countess Confidential Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5An Unexpected Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death in Saratoga Springs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Happens Under the Mistletoe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die: The Blackbird Sisters, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOne Night with an Earl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mossy Creek Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Animating Maria Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Wicked Mist: The Haunted, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReluctant Enemies Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Starbucks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOne Night in Scotland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dead Girls Don’t Wear Diamonds: The Blackbird Sisters, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tenderfoot Bride Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Daughter of the Rainbow: The Longleigh Chronicles, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMake Me Yours Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Historical Fiction For You
Demon Copperhead: A Pulitzer Prize Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lady Tan's Circle of Women: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Tender Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yellow Wife: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Second Life of Mirielle West: A Haunting Historical Novel Perfect for Book Clubs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sold on a Monday: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rebecca Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Kitchen House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Carnegie's Maid: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Have Always Lived in the Castle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Red Tent - 20th Anniversary Edition: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book Woman's Daughter: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5East of Eden Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The House of Eve Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Euphoria Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5That Bonesetter Woman: the new feelgood novel from the author of The Smallest Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hallowe'en Party: Inspiration for the 20th Century Studios Major Motion Picture A Haunting in Venice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rules of Magic: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Island of Sea Women: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Magic: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Invisible Hour: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Once Upon a River: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House Is on Fire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Pillow of Thorns
0 ratings0 reviews