Growing up––and writing––Southern
Tamera Alexander
Tamera Alexander
Growing up in Atlanta and visiting antebellum mansions as a girl, I developed an early appreciation for the postbellum era of our nation’s history. Through the years, that appreciation matured into a deeper love and respect for the people and events of that time.
To Whisper Her Name is the first in the three-book Belle Meade Plantation series. After writing numerous novels set in the Colorado Territory, I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to write Southern historicals. I’m a daughter of the South, born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, so the stories in the Belle Meade Plantation series––the people, history, events, and settings––are extra special to me. And the threads of each story (the people, events, and settings) are straight from the pages of real history.
So far, all of my stories have grown either from struggles in my own faith walk or from questions I’ve wrestled with, and the story in To Whisper Her Name is no exception. To Whisper Her Name is about leaving the old and beginning the new, and about the choices we make that echo for eternity.
Grab a sweet iced tea and join me for a two-minute behind-the-scenes tour filmed on location at Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville…
People often ask me, Do you have a favorite character in the novel?
I’m always partial to the two main protagonists in the novel I’m writing––in this instance, Lieutenant Ridley Adam Cooper and Olivia Aberdeen. But I’ve grown especially close to a real character in To Whisper Her Name. That is, a character based upon someone who truly lived––Robert Green, or “Uncle Bob” as he was known, a former slave and the head hostler for the Belle Meade Plantation for many years.
Filmed at Belle Meade Plantation, here’s a quick peek into the life of the real Bob Green…
Thanks to Girls with Books for inviting me to visit!
Continued blessings,
Tamera
I love connecting with readers and we can do that many ways:
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Set at Nashville’s historic Belle Meade Plantation, the most influential thoroughbred stud farm in America’s history, To Whisper Her Name weaves the struggles of real people of the post-war South with the journeys of a man and a woman scarred by betrayal.
Olivia Aberdeen, destitute widow of a man shot as a traitor to the South, is shunned by proper society and gratefully accepts an invitation from “Aunt” Elizabeth Harding, mistress of Belle Meade Plantation. Expecting to be the Harding’s head housekeeper, Olivia is disillusioned when she learns the real reason Elizabeth’s husband, Confederate General William Giles Harding, agreed to her coming. Not finding the safe haven she expects, Olivia is caught off guard by her feelings for Ridley Adam Cooper, a Southern man who seems anything but a Southern gentleman.
Branded a traitor by some, Ridley Cooper, a Southern son who chose to fight for the Union, is a man desperate to end the war still raging inside him. Determined to learn “the gift” that Belle Meade’s head horse trainer and former slave, Bob Green, possesses, Ridley harbors secrets that threaten both their lives.
As Ridley seeks to make peace within himself for “betraying” the South he loved, Olivia is determined to never be betrayed again.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tamera Alexander is the bestselling author of numerous books, including A Lasting Impression and The Inheritance. Her richly drawn characters and thought-provoking plots have earned her devoted readers worldwide. Tamera is a two-time Christy Award winner, two-time RITA® winner, and a recipient of the prestigious Library Journal Award. Tamera and her husband recently returned to her Southern roots and now make their home in Nashville.
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GIVEAWAY TIME. Thank you Tamera for the awesome guest post.
I haven't, but it looks interesting!! The closest I've come is Jarrell Plantation near Macon, GA, a few times when I was young. 🙂
I haven't visited it yet.. But I would love to if ever there would be a free time for me to travel.. =)
Never visited. Never even heard of it.
No I haven't
No but looks cool. Thanks