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THE MORNING SIDE (Book 1)
In 1965, life on the morning side of the Blue Ridge Mountains feels far away from world events. Jerry Fletcher and David Williams are high school seniors ready to get on with their lives, and they are more concerned with the baggage they have inherited from their parents than with Civil Rights or the Gulf of Tonkin. Jerry is the only son of a family evicted from the mountains to make way for Shenandoah National Park. His path seemed set by family history and the sense of belonging he still finds in the mountains, but fate and the Vietnam War will take him far away. David is the eldest son of a local fundamentalist preacher. His future seemed set in the ministry, but experience guides him down a different path and he struggles to reconcile his changing world view with values he holds dear.
Debut novelist James G. Brown has published articles on life in rural Virginia and books in the fields of agroindustry and rural development.
“So much to enjoy in this powerful generational story” —Charles Burnell
FLETCHER'S WAR (Book 2)
Jerry Fletcher's past has followed him to Vietnam’s Central Highlands. His exceptional survival skills, sharpened during years of evading game wardens in the Blue Ridge Mountains, find new purpose in the Army's Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols. Teamwork and friendship don’t come easily to a lone wolf, and Jerry feels no loyalty to the Army of a government that years earlier had evicted his family to make way for Shenandoah National Park. But he must adapt to survive, and he finds a kindred spirit among the Montagnards, the mountain people who have struggled for centuries to protect their homeland against incursions from the coast and the Mekong Delta. In a war he didn’t choose to be part of, Jerry has found a cause. But his tour of duty comes to an abrupt end when his courage and judgment in defending that cause clash with the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
“Government betrayal, solitary fortitude and mountain knowhow reverberate...” —Mary Sherman Willis
“Vivid coming of age portrayal of Jerry Fletcher as the author takes the reader into the chaos and tension of the escalating Vietnam War. The transformation from naive recent high school graduate to trained marksman and soldier in the Highlands of Vietnam is a compelling journey of heart and mind - a journey the reader will embrace on every page.” —Denise de Bombelles
OUT OF EDEN (Book 3)
The Peace Corps, graduate school, and the cultural kaleidoscope of working with the World Bank are taking him far from his roots in the Virginia Piedmont, from his marriage, and from the life his father had planned for him. Values from his youth are intact, but the old rules no longer square with the world he is coming to know - life in a Philippine village, death in the Indian desert, compromise in the boardroom, and secret love in the afternoons. The search for new rules is fraught with danger but the Blue Ridge Mountains will always be his sanctuary.
“A fun read... David Williams’ work in the Philippines was spot on and stirred very pleasant memories for me...” —Frank Thornley
“A great read reflecting an era of the world bank ... interesting insights!” —Ghislaine Vayre
THE PURPOSE BREAKS (Book 4)
A dramatic story of choices and outcomes for a Vietnam Special Forces veteran and a small-town college professor. One is bent on avenging his girlfriend who was wounded in an anti-war demonstration, the other is trying to restart his life after the collapse of his marriage and a prestigious career. The only thing these two high school classmates had in common growing up in rural 1960s Virginia was their love of the Blue Ridge Mountains. When their paths cross years later Jerry’s crimes become David’s problem and he must decide how far he’s willing to go to help a fugitive who once saved his life in those mountains. The Purpose Breaks is a stirring tale of moral injury and the choices we make.
“Well crafted, with historical context and sense of place. I loved the astute observations of nature, the cycles of life in the Shenandoah, the vernacular of its people” —Brian Levy
