The charge is Mayhem. Locals in the small village of Cedartown cry out for harsh judgment by finding her guilty of the horrific act and making her pay for her sins. How could a woman so egregiously harm her husband, especially one so admired as Narcisco Boronza? Zerelda Boronza is caught in the middle, between defending and saving herself. When she awoke one humid morning in the fall of 1907, splayed on the hardwood floor, she was covered in blood not knowing if it was someone else’s or her own. Eyes gritty and hard-to-focus, palms sticky on the floor, and a blood-soaked spread covering an empty bed—her memory offered no clue of how this all came about. And now, as she sits next to her attorney, the judge pounding his gavel for silence, her mind swirls with confusion. What happens during the week-long trial and after is unthinkable.
Newlywed Tilly Miner turns a deaf ear to rumors and gossip her husband, Johnny, is running parties where “complimentary” hooch loosens lips as well as pocketbooks for those looking to gamble. Some nights he crawls into their bed, smelling of sour rye mash; others, not even making it home until early morning. But her loyalty remains unwavering. And then, the unspeakable happens. A few days before Christmas, Tilly discovers a bloody atrocity dumped on their kitchen table. A warning from the Ku Klux Klan? Johnny laughs it off as a joke. But, when he goes missing one cold night in February, 1929, Tilly is convinced someone or something prevents his return. Her undying faith in Johnny is tested by righteous attitudes from her best friend’s mother and a too cruel mother-in-law, while a recalcitrant sheriff is convinced the man merely ran off.
Hulda Pearl Rosenkowski chose to survive, no matter the consequences. Poland may have been her homeland, but when murderous scavengers kill her mama and dear father, and brother Josef, during a raid on their house, she finds a way to escape. Unharmed physically but damaged forever, Hulda arrives in America with only the clothes on her back and a tattered potato bag containing a few scarce coins and precious family jewels. Dreams of becoming a "flapper" girl and brushes with members of the Detroit Purple Gang dominate Hulda's life as she counts down dwindling reserves, takes care of a broken-down farmhouse, a baby, and hides a secret that could land her in prison. Years later, as told through the eyes of small-town sheriff Claude Calkins, a story of rum-running and bootleggers stealing away in the dead-of-night with stashes of bathtub gin emerges and changes a young girl's life forever.
The charge is Mayhem. Locals in the small village of Cedartown cry out for harsh judgment by finding her guilty of the horrific act and making her pay for her sins. How could a woman so egregiously harm her husband, especially one so admired as Narcisco Boronza? Zerelda Boronza is caught in the middle, between defending and saving herself. When she awoke one humid morning in the fall of 1907, splayed on the hardwood floor, she was covered in blood not knowing if it was someone else’s or her own. Eyes gritty and hard-to-focus, palms sticky on the floor, and a blood-soaked spread covering an empty bed—her memory offered no clue of how this all came about. And now, as she sits next to her attorney, the judge pounding his gavel for silence, her mind swirls with confusion. What happens during the week-long trial and after is unthinkable.
Hulda Pearl Rosenkowski chose to survive, no matter the consequences. Poland may have been her homeland, but when murderous scavengers kill her mama and dear father, and brother Josef, during a raid on their house, she finds a way to escape. Unharmed physically but damaged forever, Hulda arrives in America with only the clothes on her back and a tattered potato bag containing a few scarce coins and precious family jewels. Dreams of becoming a "flapper" girl and brushes with members of the Detroit Purple Gang dominate Hulda's life as she counts down dwindling reserves, takes care of a broken-down farmhouse, a baby, and hides a secret that could land her in prison. Years later, as told through the eyes of small-town sheriff Claude Calkins, a story of rum-running and bootleggers stealing away in the dead-of-night with stashes of bathtub gin emerges and changes a young girl's life forever.
Newlywed Tilly Miner turns a deaf ear to rumors and gossip her husband, Johnny, is running parties where “complimentary” hooch loosens lips as well as pocketbooks for those looking to gamble. Some nights he crawls into their bed, smelling of sour rye mash; others, not even making it home until early morning. But her loyalty remains unwavering. And then, the unspeakable happens. A few days before Christmas, Tilly discovers a bloody atrocity dumped on their kitchen table. A warning from the Ku Klux Klan? Johnny laughs it off as a joke. But, when he goes missing one cold night in February, 1929, Tilly is convinced someone or something prevents his return. Her undying faith in Johnny is tested by righteous attitudes from her best friend’s mother and a too cruel mother-in-law, while a recalcitrant sheriff is convinced the man merely ran off.
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