The Broken Earth

Book excerpt: After the Civil War that destroyed the fabric of America, soldiers, slaves, and the rest of the country must find their way again. Where do the slaves go when they’re placed on the road to freedom, and how do they survive without the means necessary? What does the vanquished soldier find when he struggles to return to a homeland destroyed and defeated? How does the citizenry right the ship of state? These are questions people face in the aftermath on their journey home. Captain Matthew O’Brien, a Union officer and assistant to President Lincoln, recruits two Confederates, John and Thomas, at Appomattox to form the nexus of the Secret Service. They receive their appointments from the President the morning of his visit to Ford’s Theatre. They’re to begin a journey to New Orleans, their first mission. Evangeline, a former slave, joins their entourage in Virginia to find her mother in New Orleans. Filled with drama and mystery, The Broken Earth, a historical fiction novel, shares the stories of a cast of colorful characters as they adjust to a new life and a country torn apart by war.