title: Savannah to Sweetwater
author: English, Doris Staton
description: Savannah to Sweetwater is the story of survival and redemption when three individuals worlds collide. All Rachel Gregory ever dreamed of was to be mistress of her father s plantation and to live her life in the ease and luxury of a Southern aristocrat. When she arrives home in the spring of1859 from an extended stay in Europe, her dreams collide with reality. She finds her home in shambles, her deceased father s mill in the hands of another and herself virtually penniless. Clinging with tenacious myopia to her past, she refuses to acknowledge that life as she knew it is over. When she places the blame for her predicament on wealthy, handsome, Savannah shipping magnate, Andrew Meredith, she spurns the love of the one who wants to rescue her and blindly turns to one who plots her downfall. When Meredith s conscience forces him to confront the evils of his time, he must choose between what is expedient and what is right. Complicating his decision is his mysterious attachment to the exquisite woman of color, Daphne DeLucie. A product of the darkest side of slavery, her strange hold on Andrew and his dedication to her welfare stir a maelstrom of controversy that demands a solution. His decision forces him to encounter personal danger, risk financial ruin, and alienate the woman he loves. Savannah to Sweetwater is a tale of intrigue, conflict and romance. Set in the old South on the eve of the 1860 elections, it is the story of Rachel and Andrew and the love they both tried to deny. Their story is played out against a backdrop of an era ending and the conflicting values that ushered in its tragic destruction. The way the two come to term with each other and the end of an age create a poignant commentary of the times. Their decisions affect not only their own lives but have resounding consequences on the vital characters that are woven like seamless tapestry into the lives of Rachel and Andrew.