LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — USA Today bestselling author Tamera Alexander is coming back to her roots. Alexander, whose great-great-grandparents lived in the Lynchburg in the Gattis Town and Lois area in the late 1800s — and whose great-great-great-grandfather broke mules for the distillery — will speak at the Farris Creek Masonic Lodge located at 101 Main Street in Lynchburg on Sunday, June 14 at 2 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, with no registration required.
Alexander is the author of 20 novels of inspirational historical fiction/romance, many of them set against the real history of Nashville’s great antebellum mansions — Carnton, Belmont Mansion, and Belle Meade Plantation — and written in close collaboration with the curators and historians at each site. Her books have earned numerous awards and industry honors including the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction, the Carol Award, Amazon and ECPA Bestseller status, as well as starred reviews from Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly. She was also inducted into the Christy Award Hall of Fame in 2020.
Her upcoming novel, In These Hills — published by Tyndale House Publishers with an anticipated September 8 release date — brings her storytelling home to Moore County in a way that feels deeply personal.
Set in 1905 Lynchburg, the novel follows Josephine Dunham — a young suffragist fleeing for her life after a women’s rights rally in Atlanta turns deadly — who lands at Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House and finds unexpected work at Jack Daniel’s Distillery, an irony not lost on a woman committed to the cause of prohibition. It is a story of secrets, justice, romance, and faith, set against the real history of women’s suffrage, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House, and Lynchburg itself.
“I’ve wanted to write this novel for a long time. Writing about Miss Mary Bobo’s, the distillery, and the people and history of this community felt like coming home,” she says.
At the June 14 event sponsored by the Lynchburg/Moore County Historical Society, Alexander will speak for approximately 35 minutes before opening the floor to Q&A. She will share her personal writing journey, the research behind In These Hills and her other historical novels, and what it means to write real history into fiction. In These Hills is currently available for pre-order on Amazon and other bookseller.•
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