Plum Orchard

In her second novel, Plum Orchard, June Hall McCash once again
uses the backdrop of coastal Georgia to explore the captivating
narrative that spans three generations but focuses on Elisabeth
Bernardey (known as Zabette) and her journey toward freedom.
The narrative is based on the true story of Robert Stafford,
the wealthiest planter on Cumberland Island, and his mistress
Zabette. Born the illegitimate daughter of a French planter
and his slave mistress and raised by her white father and
grandmother, Zabette finds herself neither completely free nor
totally in bondage.

Plum Orchard begins in the plantation era and continues through
the Civil War and Reconstruction. Geographically the action
moves from Cumberland Island to Groton, Connecticut, and
back again. One reader has described it as "a narrative that
explores both the darkness that is slavery and the light that
lives within the human heart.” Another reader noted that “The
American South has been one of the world’s most fertile sources
for fascinating stories and great literature. The tale of Robert
Stafford, his slave mistress Zabette, and their six children is one
of the most compelling sagas ever to come out of the region."

McCash’s debut novel, Almost to Eden, won the Georgia Author
of the Year Award for first novel in 2011. It is set on Jekyll
Island, Georgia, and in New York City, beginning in 1911.
McCash has also published eight nonfiction books, including A
Titanic Love Story: Ida and Isidor Straus, which appeared in
2012.