Aila's Journal

Relive the story of two young women, one White, one Black, as they struggle for survival, dignity, and purpose against the tide of history in the late nineteenth century.Aila's Journal tells the story of Aila MacKenzie, a White indentured servant, and Mary Jane Sanders, a Black slave, who meet at age thirteen on a small farm near Wilmington, North Carolina. The Civil War has left the South, the community, and personal lives in shambles. Jubilation over the emancipationof the slaves had been replaced by oppression, discrimination, hatred, and violence directed toward Blacks and their sympathizers. The two women struggle together with hardships during the war and Reconstruction into the Jim Crow era, culminating in the 1898 race riot and coup d'état in Wilmington. Through their shared experiences, they become lifelong friends.For the author, Aila's Journal is a work of introspection, the primary purpose of which is to encourage examination of history's relevance to our values today. As such, publication and sale will be on a not-for-profit basis.