Juanita Riddle was born in north Alabama, and moved to Texas at an early age. In 1999, she moved from San Antonio, Texas to Guntersville, Alabama. She currently resides in Portland, Oregon.

About the Book

1860 – the Civil War had not begun, yet southerners felt the threat of invasion by the North imminent. The poor whites would fight the rich plantation slave owner’s war disguised as State’s Rights.

Southerners Emile and Katherine Bresett knew they would pay a price for opposing slavery and the war, nevertheless, taught their children Will, Jesse and Hannah the importance of human dignity.

1861 – The war begins – reluctantly, Hannah marries Gray Lewis, the son of a slave owner and he takes her to Bay Minette, Alabama, far from her family in north Alabama into a life of loneliness and despair. The war takes its toll and she finds herself alone. She hitches up her mules Goldie and Coco and with Bama, her blue tick hound sitting beside her, heads west for Texas and travels into a world of hardship, tragedies, happiness, adventure, violence, greed, murder, courage, romance, humor and optimism.

She finds friends in unlikely places and together they establish lives filled with love, truth, justice and respect. They share their sadness and joy with each other and share their good fortune with those less fortunate.