In her second novel, Plum Orchard, June Hall McCash once again uses the backdrop of coastal Georgia to explore the captivating narrative that spans three generations but focuses on Elisabeth Bernardey (known as Zabette) and her journey toward freedom. The narrative is based on the true story of Robert Stafford, the wealthiest planter on Cumberland Island, and his mistress Zabette. Born the illegitimate daughter of a French planter and his slave mistress and raised by her white father and grandmother, Zabette finds herself neither completely free nor totally in bondage.
Plum Orchard begins in the plantation era and continues through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Geographically the action moves from Cumberland Island to Groton, Connecticut, and back again. One reader has described it as "a narrative that explores both the darkness that is slavery and the light that lives within the human heart.†Another reader noted that “The American South has been one of the world’s most fertile sources for fascinating stories and great literature. The tale of Robert Stafford, his slave mistress Zabette, and their six children is one of the most compelling sagas ever to come out of the region."
McCash’s debut novel, Almost to Eden, won the Georgia Author of the Year Award for first novel in 2011. It is set on Jekyll Island, Georgia, and in New York City, beginning in 1911. McCash has also published eight nonfiction books, including A Titanic Love Story: Ida and Isidor Straus, which appeared in 2012.