Caty Maclean

Book excerpt: The last of the Jacobite wars took place on Culloden Moor, Scotland, on the sixteenth of April 1746, leaving a bloody path of devastation, and leaving 1,500 Jacobites dead or dying on the windswept moor in less than an hour. The clans, left without their chief, or protector, were forced to endure royal persecution, murder, starvation, with the homeless compelled to live on the open moors. Driven to desperation, the Highlanders must leave their beloved land if they were to survive. Many believed that if there was freedom to be had, it would be found in the vast wilderness of North Carolina. To escape persecution from the English victors, fourteen-year-old Catriona "Caty" Maclean and her family board ship in 1749 to begin the perilous journey from the Isle of Mull, across turbulent seas, to a new land. Death and destruction follow. On the farm in Cross Creek, North Carolina, Caty finds life intolerable. To wake up every day to backbreaking work, to watch helpless loved ones dying of the fevers almost cost her her own life. It is Caty's independent spirit and strong will, in the end, that keep her alive and capture the love of two men, one whose love will transcend the boundaries of time. There are decisions to be made. Hard decisions. Decisions that will determine the course of Caty's life. A destination that will transport her to a new beginning. A new venture. Caty Maclean is the first book in the Family Saga Series.