New Southern Fiction Receives High Praise

'A Stranger Comes Home', a little southern mystery (with a touch of humor), is set in southeastern North Carolina and inspired by memories from the author's childhood of life in a rural area known as Hog Swamp. You've never met the characters, but you'll recognize their tenacity, their unique hospitality, and the secrets that give each one their own special heartbeat.

With another birthday approaching, Social Worker Shirley Foster realizes her life has suddenly slipped away. Like pennies make dollars, minutes made years and the years Miss Shirley thought were ahead waiting to be filled are behind and, it seems… empty. Having always believed every question has a simple answer, she’s troubled when she can’t solve the mystery of her missing years.

While tracking a client suspected of welfare fraud, two flat tires strand Miss Shirley on an isolated country road surrounded by deep woods and freshly plowed fields. It appears to be a lost pocket of time where every moment is saved and treasured… a place that could hold the answer to her question. In reality, she's wandered straight to the doorstep of secrets and lies. When she reaches out for help, southern hospitality draws her into the lives of three sisters and their Papa and into a home she may not escape. Many years before, a few careless words left this family the victims of heartbreak and separation. Now, kindness is suspect. Love is careful. And remembrance is best not walked on with bare feet.

When Shirley discovers a body is buried out back behind the grape vine, she has good reason to wonder if she’ll get out alive.

Dawn is a former employee of the Robeson County Department of Social Services. She used this working knowledge and her memories as the granddaughter of a farmer in creating the story. While the events are not true, she offers 'A Stranger Comes Home' as a tribute to a time, a place and its very special people.