Forrester Road: The Winston-Barnett Saga (PB) (2018)

Forrester Road is the first standalone book in the Winston/Barnett saga. When Faith Barnett climbed the steps of the caboose on Chuck Winston's freight train, it was the first time she ever set foot outside Wilke County. Stowing away with Chuck would get her to college, but school would not prepare her for the difficulties of the adult world. As Texas and the whole nation were plunged into the globe's first world war, a more insidious and destructive enemy sneaked into town with one of the returning soldiers. The deadly La Grippe otherwise known as the Spanish Flu spread around the world like a dark cloud, leaving few households untouched. A lesser war raged in Faith's heart as Gabriel Hamilton weakened her resolve to devote her life to her career as an old-maid school teacher. Faith's discovery that the adult world contained people perfectly willing to betray friends shocked her but seemed trivial when she met Gabe's scheming and manipulative Uncle Horace. If you love history, you will love meeting the families along Forrester Road. Unlike British royalty, many Texans acquired their property through Spanish Land Grants, but the struggles and interaction between the characters is as rich with the intrigue of the times as the storyline of Downton Abby.