Stone by Stone

A love letter to Western North Carolina, all net proceeds go to rebuilding Chimney Rock, NC.

A lie overheard in 1927 reverberates for three generations, culminating in its revelation in 2000. Stone by Stone is a family saga of lost hope, duplicity, perseverance, and redemption. At the heart of it rests Stoneygate Estate, several hundred acres of mountain, woods, and pasture in the foothills of Western North Carolina. Stone by Stone is a character-driven narrative with a rich emotional core.

In 2000, Meg Bishop, an award-winning children's book author from Chicago, inherits Stoneygate estate in Western North Carolina. A stipulation of the will demands she reside there for a year before deciding to keep it or sell. As she settles in and reconnects to the land she loved as a child, the solitude begins to heal old wounds. At the same time, developers are fighting in court to lay claim to the property.

A groundskeeper and a local attorney ingratiate themselves with duplicitous motives.

Meg delves into her great aunt's journals chronicling the life of the Kenyon family through two world wars, a flu pandemic, and the Great Depression. Much of the tale is told from the perspective of three northern women of different generations, all transplanted to the south. As they face trials of spouse abuse, miscarriage and loss, they find strength to move forward with grace and wit. The Kenyon men, challenged to move through trials of betrayal and loss, extol the virtues of strength as well as vulnerability

May appeal to readers of Jean Thompson, Ann Patchett and Nicholas Sparks.