The Girls of Haviland

Part of the Haviland series:

The Girls of Haviland
Beyond Haviland

Editions:ebook, Hardcover, Paperback

As the final months of the Great War approach, Jay McKenna’s world is irrevocably changed when she witnesses a tragic accident, the death of another girl who would have been her classmate at the esteemed Haviland Seminary For Girls. As Jay prepares to leave and step into Haviland’s hallowed halls, she’s burdened with the tragedy that unfolded above her family’s farm.

Already seen as an outsider for her immigrant roots, Jay finds herself in a school still reeling from the loss and whispers of the tragedy echoing from every corner. She’s no stranger to struggles—with three brothers on the front lines of the war and a tyrannical father at home—but her trials at Haviland will test her resolve.

Hope glimmers in the form of Florence —a fiercely spirited girl shunned for her skin color. Florence becomes Jay’s beacon, teaching her strength and resilience. Together, they navigate the labyrinths of school politics and prejudice. As they dig deeper into the tragic death, secrets emerge that could rip apart the fabric of their newfound sisterhood. Where the lines between friend and foe blur, Jay must find her voice amidst the chaos and the courage to stand up to injustice, bigotry, and her own family’s bitter turmoil.

Published: November 7, 2023

Publisher: Hat Creek

Genres:

Historical

Tags:

About the Author

Deborah Oswald

Deborah Rafferty Oswald has a love of writing historical fiction. Her love of history began when she and her husband moved from Mahopac, New York to Brewster, New York in 1991. The former owners of their home in Brewster introduced her to Brewster Bicentennial book. She was drawn to the profiles of prominent past citizens of Brewster, two of which inspired characters in The Girls of Haviland. This led to a love of historical research about World War I, early Twentieth Century politics, reform movements, immigration, workers’ rights, and the Women’s Suffrage Movement.

Deborah is happy being a history nerd, living in Brewster with her husband, youngest daughter, and two dogs. She enjoys daily walks, reading on the beach, and hanging sheets on the clothesline to dry. Her favorite place to write is outdoors during summer vacations, where she can infuse her writing with the sights and sounds of the cardinals, hummingbirds, squirrels, rabbits, and deer who share their backyard.

Other Books By Deborah Oswald

Series: Haviland

The Girls of Haviland

Beyond Haviland

Vaquero Padre

The Epic Journey of Eusebio Francisco Kino
In the heart of the 17th century, a young Jesuit’s brush with death sparked a vow that would change the course of history.
When eighteen-year-old Eusebio Francisco Kino recovered from a grave illness, he credited his healing to Saint Francis Xavier—and promised to follow his patron’s path to the missions of China. But God had other plans.
Ordained and sent west to New Spain, Padre Kino would spend the next three decades carving a legacy across the untamed northern frontier. From the rugged coast of California to the desert lands of Pimería Alta, he brought not only the word of God, but the tools for survival—introducing cattle ranching and wheat cultivation to native communities. As peacemaker and protector, he stood between the Spanish crown and the people he served, navigating colonial politics, Apache resistance, and the harsh terrain of the Southwest.
A brilliant mathematician, cartographer, and explorer, Kino’s maps redrew the boundaries of the continent, proving that California was not an island, but firmly connected to the land he so loved.
Vaquero Padre brings to vivid life the remarkable journey of a man of faith, science, and unshakable purpose—told as he himself might have shared it.

Cold Powder Vengeance

Black powder burns hot. Revenge doesn’t.
In 1875, Judiah Stone wants nothing more than to bury the war and live in peace, farming his homestead in the Dakota Territory with his beautiful wife. But when a gang of killers sheds her blood and leaves him for dead, peace dies with her.
Most men would wait on the law. Not this one.
Armed with a Henry rifle and a fire in his gut, he rides west—tracking the men to Deadwood, where greed and blood soak the Black Hills. Sioux warriors, brutal storms, and a cold-eyed shootist all try to end him along the way.
But the truth isn’t what it seems. The real killer is closer than he ever imagined—and in a courtroom where justice is bought, he brings his own sentence.
Cold Powder Vengeance is a brutal tale of frontier retribution, where the only sure things are a six-gun and the grave.

Comancheria

You can’t outrun a curse. You ride through it.
Texas Ranger Buck Dallas was meant to die. Cursed by the Comanche witch doctor, Twisted Root, he falls with the sun and claws out of the dirt at dawn—half man, half memory, bound to a promise he can’t forget.
With fellow Ranger Lane Newsome at his side, Buck rides a haunted trail across a hollow frontier—one stripped of mercy, scarred by blood, and hunted by things older than men. Their mission: find a missing girl named River and deliver a pregnant woman to a hidden spring that may be salvation… or something far worse.
As the riders press deeper into Comancheria, they’re joined by mystics, mercenaries, and broken souls—each with something to lose, and none guaranteed to survive. Between the bullets and the curses, between the land and the dead, redemption may be the only thing worth dying for.
From New York Times bestselling author Reavis Z. Wortham, Comancheria is a gritty, unrelenting vision of the West—dark, mythic, and rising from the grave.

Roan & Weatherford