Ocean State Libraries

It is 1844 and Lacey Bishop's life is a tangled mess. Estranged from her own family, at age 16 she went to work for a preacher and his wife. When his wife died, the preacher convinced Lacey that the only decent thing to do was to marry him. That way she could continue to act as mother to the little girl who was left on his doorstop. But Lacey never expected he would decide to take them all off to a Shaker village.

With the country--and her own household--on the brink of civil war, pampered gentlewoman Charlotte Vance hatches a plan to avoid her new stepmother and win back her man by joining the Shaker community at Harmony Hill. Little does she know that this decision will lead her down a road toward unforeseen peace--and a very unexpected love.

Five years ago, while William Rees was still recovering from his stint as a Revolutionary War soldier, his beloved wife died. Devastated, Rees left his son, David, in his sister's care, fled his Maine farm, and struck out for a tough but emotionally empty life as a traveling weaver. Now, upon returning unexpectedly to his farm, Rees discovers that David has been treated like a serf for years and finally ran away to join a secluded religious sect--the...

"Darcie and Walter Goodwin join a Shaker village to escape a cholera epidemic, but when Walter dies, Darcie is left alone--and lonely. Can love live again for this widow in a community that doesn't believe in marriage?"-- 1849. Darcie and Walter Goodwin join a Shaker village to escape a cholera epidemic sweeping the area. It's meant to be a temporary stay, but Walter is killed in a riverboat accident. With no family and no money, Darcie has little...

When Elizabeth Duncan feels a strong attachment to a handsome young Believer named Ethan, life gets complicated. Will Elizabeth be forced to leave the Shaker community to keep Ethan from stumbling? Or will Ethan's love for her change their lives forever?

After her mother's death, fourteen-year-old Susannah is taken by her father to live in a Shaker community in Ohio, but she does not find the same sense of peace there that he does.

In 1971, a property speculator named Harley Mann begins recording his life story onto a reel-to-reel machine. Reflecting on his childhood in the early twentieth century, Harley recounts that after his father's sudden death, his family migrated down to Florida's swamplands--mere miles away from what would become Disney World--to join a community of Shakers. Led by Elder John, a generous man with a mysterious past, the colony devoted itself to labor,...

"Will Rees is adjusting to life on his Maine farm in 1797, but he's already hungering for the freedom of the road, and his chance to travel comes sooner than he expects. Lydia has just received a letter from her old friend Mouse, a soft-spoken and gentle woman who now lives in the Shaker community in Mount Unity, New York. To Lydia and Rees's astonishment, she's in trouble with the law. She's kidnapped five children, claiming that their mother, Maggie...