Just in from Linda Malcolm

I recently received an e-mail from Linda Malcolm telling me about a Mt. Pleasant author, Lindy Carter, whose new book The Rice Birds was published by Evening Post Books In Charleston.

Below is a description of the book from the publisher:

In 1849, twin sisters fleeing Ireland’s famine arrive at New York’s seaport. Only Nora is allowed to get on the boat to South Carolina to fulfill her work contract. On her master’s vast rice plantation, an enslaved worker—Pearl— befriends her. After one of them commits a crime, the girls flee to Charleston, a dangerous place for runaways. Nora frantically seeks to get back to her sister, while Pearl tries to find her mother before heading north. Meanwhile, an old enemy’s illegal transatlantic scheme is about to derail the girls’ plans.

Historically accurate, the book draws upon interviews with academics, historians, and educators, as well as dissertations, histories, Gullah stories, cookbooks, and the diaries of Lowcountry rice planters. The Rice Birds takes the reader beyond the well-known narrative about Charleston’s history to reveal real events and lives that have seen little light in contemporary books. Some stories were so compelling, they needed little embellishment before being woven into this tale.

Carter grew up in Athens, GA and graduated from the Universtiy of Georgia in 1975 with a degree in journalism. After graduation, she came to Charleston for her first job. After a successful career in journalism in many settings, she returned to the lowcountry in 1999 to retire. Her ‘retirement’ involved a second career as an historical fiction writer. Her first two books were about the logging industry in North Georgia during the early 1900’s. The Rice Birds is her third book. In Carter’s own words, the story is “a tribute to the people who built their lives in the beautiful but dangerous watery landscape of coastal South Carolina.”

I’m sure Lindy Carter will be speaking around the lowcountry in the months to come promoting her new book. Some book clubs may well want her to speak to their members!!