Wise Woman (Appalachian Journey) [signed] [first edition]

In the mid 1920s, Bessie Elliott and her husband Fletcher take in their six-year-old nephew John. They are determined to give him a warm and secure home on Stone Mountain, a place where he will feel loved and know he is always welcome. Having a child brings many changes to their daily life and even more for John, but it isn’t long before he feels completely at home with his aunt and uncle. As he learns about the farm animals, the wildlife and plant life on the mountain, he grows into a young man Bessie and Fletch are proud to call their own. But their life is not without turmoil. Bessie’s healing skills are put to the test when she and Doc Widby deal with an unknown and mysterious illness, one they have no idea how to treat. While doing their best to heal their patient, they run up against a new doctor in Black Mountain who is involved with the Eugenics movement, a program Bessie fiercely opposes. And Bessie and Fletch, along with the rest of their neighbors, are torn apart by a foe threatening the natural beauty of Stone Mountain.