My Dear Emma
It’s 1862 and the Civil War is raging. Hearing the call, James enlists and, leaving his family behind, musters in to the 10th NY Volunteer Cavalry.
Flash forward one hundred and fifty years. Rachel Benton is desperate. After the sudden death of her husband, and eviction from their house, she is forced to move across country with her young daughter, Julia, to the small town of Oxford to take care of Nonna, her ailing grandmother.
When her grandmother dies, she finds herself immersed in the legal ramifications of handling her grandmother’s estate. As she searches for Nonna’s will, Rachel discovers Civil War diaries and letters and other mysteries hidden in the house. Who are James and Emma? How will their lives impact hers? Will she find the answers before time runs out?
About JoAnn Meaker (Richmond, Virginia Author)
Meaker is the author of Images of America, Ontario, an Arcadia Publications book written to commemorate the bicentennial of the town of Ontario, New York. Two historical mysteries followed, My Dear Emma and Four Branches - duel time-line stories which are both partially set during the Civil War era. In addition she's written A Line of Shorts, a book of short stories, and children’s fantasy story, Nola’s Gift.
She’s published a series of historic newspaper articles and her work has appeared in several anthologies. Her latest work, Stories Beneath the Stones: Richmond National Cemetery is the culmination of three years of intensive research into the lives of the 860+ Civil War soldiers buried in the Richmond National Cemetery when it opened in 1867. Along the way she discovered so many interesting stories.
A retired teacher, she and her husband Norm moved to the Richmond area from Ontario, in western New York State, where she volunteered for many years for the town's Historical Society, was the organization's President and archivist, and served as organizer of Civil War reenactments at the Society-owned museum. Since relocating to Richmond, Meaker has been very active in the Hanover County Rotary Club, is the current president of the Hanover Writers Club and is on the board of the Virginia Writers Club.
