Dual-Timeline Historical Fiction Novels

Germany after World War II and America in the 1960s

In post-war Germany, the wife of an American soldier noticed a strange sight. It was about a group of mixed-race children following a nun like little ducklings. Desperate to conceive a child of her own, she decides to find out more about their story. The children’s story traces back to a lone black soldier in occupied Germany and moves forward through the decades to a young girl named Sophia discovering secrets from her past that upend everything she thought she knew about herself and her family.

Hong Kong in the 1940s and San Francisco in the 1960s

A young girl in Hong Kong in the 1940s works in her family’s shoe factory at the behest of her distant father and emotionless stepmother. Through years of hardship, she learns that sometimes the best way to survive is to disappear. Decades later, Marigold is shocked to witness her mother disappear before her eyes. The discovery shatters their relationship. Years later, as her mother’s condition begins to deteriorate, Marigold begins researching her family’s history. It is only when she uncovers the secrets her family has hidden for generations that she begins to understand why her mother has worked so hard to forget the past.

United States in 1917, 1934, 1980s, and 1995

In this multigenerational story, seven generations of women in the Dupree family navigate love, loss, and generational trauma, even as the bonds that bind them prove to be the strongest force of all. In 1995, when 14-year-old Tati began asking questions about her father’s identity, she was faced with secrecy and silence. Neither her mother nor grandmother talk about her past. They won’t say who Tati’s father is or why Gladys left Alabama in the 1950s. As the story weaves together generations of women, it becomes clear why the Dupree women keep secrets and keep their families closer together.

1910s and 1960s

Two things unite Nona Dixon and Opal Doucet: Halley’s Comet and Earthshine Soap Company. Nona owes everything to Earthshine Soap Company after they made her the first Earthshine Girl, which launched her acting career. But when anonymous women file a class action lawsuit against the company alleging harmful ingredients in its soaps, Nona begins investigating the company’s current owner, Bertie Tuttle, a woman with a complicated history. Decades ago, Opal started working at Earthshine to help make ends meet. Although the working conditions are clearly unsafe, she must weigh the price of her freedom against the lives of the women affected by the soap company’s practices, even as she helps her colleagues plan a strike.