You may wish to purchase Falling Leaves and Mountain Ashes – The Story of a Mountain by Brenda George now on the Just Done Productions - Publishing website for R190
SISTER AND EDITOR OF GLORIA KEVERNE, INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF “A MAN CANNOT CRY,”
RELEASES HER OWN FIRST EPIC NOVEL “FALLING LEAVES AND MOUNTAIN ASHES”
2006
THE WINNERS OF THE ABOVE-MENTIONED COMPETITION HAVE RECENTLY BEEN ANNOUNCED. BRENDA GEORGE,
AUTHOR OF “FALLING LEAVES AND MOUNTAIN ASHES” IS A SEMI-FINALIST. THERE WERE ABOUT TWENTY THOUSAND
ENTRANTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD AND SHE WAS THE ONLY NON-AMERICAN AMONGST THE WINNERS!
“Starting in 1899, this 40-year saga is about a brave young mountain woman, Mary Harley, who elopes with Zachary Thomas to the dreaded
The mountain is inhabited by a wild, violent and lawless clan known as the “Buckos,” who are engaged in a vicious 30-year feud with the neighbouring Galtreys.
The fiercely independent mountain people lead tough, frugal loves, bravely facing all the hazards of Nature, but none of them is prepared for the most devastating blow
of all to their loved lifestyle….With undertones of the mystical and the spiritual, this story is set against an authentic background of Blue Ridge mountain life and
is a rich weave of humour and heartache, love and violence, courage and brutality, feuds and strong family ties and is set amongst the raw, unspoiled beauty of
the
Brenda George grew up in Northern Rhodesia/Zambia and now lives in Pietermaritzburg. She has been a freelance editor for 36 years, a literary agent, a convenor
of novel writing workshops and a novel-writer of longstanding. She edited the international best-seller, “A Man Cannot Cry,” and the recently released
“The Divine Dawning,” both of which were written by her sister, Gloria Keverne.
In 1982, Brenda started writing after having two very powerful realistic dreams, one week apart. The first gave her, her main characters, and the second, her story.
The day after the second dream, she started writing and she hasn’t stopped since. “Falling Leaves and Mountain Ashes,” was seven years in the writing,
and was researched from 1981. It is the first book of a 5-book series.
Brenda George weaves an elaborate tapestry of rich, compelling characters, and a passionate story of love, courage, violence, heartache and humor. Her writing is lyrical and visual – a movie in the making! Don’t miss this compelling, page-turning read! Annette Handley-Chandler – ex-literary agent, Hollywood screenplay agent, Emmy Award winning producer, writer,
‘Any and all readers will enjoy this manuscript. The title is catchy and the words are powerful. They place the reader in another era. The reader can visualize the setting. The dialogue fits the mountain region in which the setting takes place. I am impressed with the amount of work that was put into this manuscript. I loved this story and cannot wait to read the next installment. The author has an excellent way with words. It is so nice to read a manuscript where so much thought, time, and work were put into the material.’ Cynthia Sherman – Writers’ Literary,
‘Highly detailed description promotes accessible imagery for the reader, and the inclusion of emotive historical facts sets the scene for a story told in a wild but picturesque landscape. A simple and rustic way of life is slowly revealed to the reader, reinforced by accented speech and a meticulously described lifestyle. The encounter at the store is artfully written, and assists in building empathy with the characters, whose natures and motivations are both shown and implied through nuance and narration … This story is told in a highly convincing manner, and the relationships between characters are starkly and realistically portrayed. This engagement with the story made it compelling reading, and aroused curiosity as to how the plot would unfold. Excellent writing. Highly publishable.’ Editorial Committee –
‘In my younger years, when I got hold of a novel that interested me, I would read it nonstop until I had finished it. This hasn’t happened for me for many, many years – until I started reading Brenda George’s “Falling Leaves and Mountain Ashes.”
I was fascinated, intrigued, from the very start of the book. I read it all day, sitting outside in a comfortable chair beneath a canopy of trees. The light was good, the read was excellent. I stopped very occasionally for a cup of tea, a light lunch, a bite of supper. I continued sitting outside, reading, even as the light faded and the words were barely visible. I just had to know what happened! I was intrigued, wondering what would happen next, alarmed at the violent mountain characters that would shoot a person as easily as drawing breath, pleased with the underlying story of the clan’s gradual upliftment.
The characters are indelible - so alive, so real, her background so precisely drawn that I was there, with them, where it was all happening, transported to a place and an era that was new to me, yet it was all as vivid as if I had been living in the early 1900’s in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Each of the main characters has a real life that is vivid and memorable. They live fully on the pages, their lives complex yet understandable, all the different elements of the tale finally weaving together into a really satisfying whole. The setting is there, stark, easy to visualize, the rugged mountains, the isolation, the strength of character that develops as companion to these elements. These such believable characters nevertheless hide secrets until it is time to let them out. What a great movie this book will make!
I had a tremendous feeling for this book that drew me along irresistibly as it told the story. Although one of violence and cruelty, it was so positive and gripping that I simply could not put it down. An incredible writer and great story teller, Brenda has woven a novel in which the goodness of the main woman character of Mary shines through, detailing the effects she had on these wild cruel murderous mountain men and their families that she found on the wild and lonely Claw Mountain, her many struggles to overcome their appalling brutality and ignorance, and her eventual triumph
Felicity Keats
Publisher, right-brain specialist, writer -
A surprising choice of novel by a South African author, this is a compelling and realistic portrayal of life on the Blue Ridge Mountains,
Beautifully constructed, this book tells the tale of the formation of the Shenandoah National Park, the ‘Mountain Folk' that lived there, the inter-clan fighting, the fierce family loyalties, and the gradual exposure to a more sophisticated life off the mountains. There is an inspirational message in the story of how a young girl goes to live amongst these people, and spends her life trying to better their world - to finally one day they are forced to leave their beloved home.
Well researched, thus historically correct, this is the first of a 5 part saga. The descriptions of the forests take the reader out of this world and into theirs where eagles soar and leaves changed colour with the seasons. Lesley Thomson – Talking Travel/The Lazy Lizard Book Traders
KZN-based author Brenda George brings us a riveting tale of the hardships with which the mountain folk of
I guarantee that once you begin reading you will not want to put it down. The
FICTION 455 pages
Copies of ‘Falling Leaves and Mountain Ashes’ can be ordered through Just Done Productions – http://www.justdone.co.za
Choose ‘catalog’ and follow the instructions….
or for those who would prefer to fax 086 505 2478 or contact John 083 3888 290 publish@justdone.co.za
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