Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree

by Lillah Lawson

It's an unusually warm autumn, 1929, and O.T. Lawrence is about as content as a cotton farmer can be in Five Forks, Georgia. Nothing—not poverty, drought, or even the boll weevi—can spoil the idyllic life he shares with his doting wife and children and his beloved twin brother Walt. Until illness and Black Tuesday take everything O.T. ever held dear in one fell swoop. Grieving, drinking, and careening toward homelessness, O.T. is on the brink of ending it all when he receives an odd letter from a teenage acquaintance, the enigmatic Sivvy Hargrove, who is locked away in Milledgeville’s asylum for the insane. Traveling through desperate antebellum towns, O.T. and his daughter Ginny are determined to find Sivvy and discover her story. Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree is a love story to Georgia and the spirit of its people—a story of family, unconditional love, poverty, injustice, and finding the strength inside to keep on going when all is lost.

381 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2019

About the author

Lillah Lawson has been writing since she was 8 years old, when she won a short story contest at her elementary school. The story was about a Princess who gets tired of waiting for the Prince to show up and saves herself. Once she saw her words printed in the local newspaper, she knew she wanted to be a writer.

Lawson's debut novel, a work of historical fiction titled Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree, was released by Regal House Publishing in 2019, and was nominated for Georgia Author of the Year in the literary fiction category in 2020. The first in her horroromance trilogy, Dead Rockstar, was published via Parliament House Press in 2020, with sequels The Wolfden (2/2022) and Driftwood Dreary (8/2023) to follow. Her next work of historical fiction, So Long, Bobby, is set to release via Sword & Silk Press in the Fall of 2023.

In addition to novels, Lillah's short story "The Lady and the Tall Man" appeared in the horror anthology "Shiver", edited by Nico Bell, in 2021. Her short story "Burn the Witch (Red)" will appear in the horror anthology "Chromophobia", published by Red Rooster Press and edited by Sara Tantlinger, in Fall 2022.

In 2020, Lillah was awarded the UGA Arts/Flagpole Magazine's micro-fellowship, and her short story "Shoofly", featuring characters from her debut novel, appeared as part of the digital exhibit.

Lillah, who enjoys straddling literary genres, is currently working on a southern historical thriller set in the 1980s. In addition to writing, Lillah enjoys working as an amateur genealogist and is currently pursuing her BA in History.

Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exquisite read, with the tender yet gritty undertones of Steinback, Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree is a solemn walk through the deep south during one of the most difficult eras in American history: the early twentieth century. Lawson captures the southern gothic through the often fragile, yet always hopeful hearts of her characters as they try to cope with the hard knocks of life. This book will touch your heart in the beautifully tragic way that only southern gothic can, slowly at first, and then all at once.

[Amy Bruno · Rating 4 out of 5]

My amazing reading streak continues with Lillah Lawson's Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree! Called a "love story to Georgia", Lawson's incredible historical is set around and during the Great Depression in Five Forks, Georgia. I'm a Southern girl and live about 30 minutes away from the setting of the book so I knew I had to pick it up, and I am so glad that I did!

Told with authentic voices that really bring you into their world and set the scene, readers will quickly be caught up in the lives of O.T. and Sivvy. I don't want to give too much away, but I will warn you to have tissues at the ready. This time in history in the South wasn't easy and Lawson portrays the hardships families had to endure with masterful writing and characters you won't easily forget.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first read by Lillah Lawson and can't wait to read what she has coming out next!

[Paula Butterfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

For O.T. Lawrence, life in rural Five Forks, Georgia, in 1929 was as sweet and slow as sorghum syrup. He married the prettiest girl in town and farmed the prettiest land. He could never have guessed that his life would cross paths with a mountain girl whose life is about abuse, loss, and life in an asylum.

Author Lillah Lawson ushers the reader into a world of sassafras tea and moonshine, revival meetings and fiddle music. Her pitch-perfect use of dialect authentically evokes the story's time and place. During the Depression, lots of folks are drawn to drink or desperate measures, but it seems that mostly women, like Sivvy Hargrove, are locked away when her response to what life has dealt her is interpreted as insanity. As O.T. says, "What business has they got keepin' you in this place on account of some hard luck?"

This story of grit and determination and love is intriguing (yes, there are mysterious secrets to be revealed) and inspiring. A powerful debut novel.

[Yvette · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the first line, Lillah Lawson immerses the reader into the hard scrabble life of cotton farmers in rural Five Forks, Georgia and the life and loves of Owen "O.T." Lawrence and his twin brother Walt. From the fateful meeting with Sivvy Hargrove as teenagers during a tent revival in 1916, through struggles, hardships, and devastating losses during the Great Depression, this is a wonderfully written portrait of grit and humanity set against ever present hunger, social divides, and the constant, underlying menace of a predatory traveling evangelist.

Sassafras tea and moonshine, side meat, boll weevils, red dirt, and the distinctive colloquial language of early 20th Century small town and Appalachian Georgia all lend themselves to what is ultimately the story of O.T. and Sivvy's long journey to awakening from the numbness of debilitating grief to finding each other. 

Full of all the heartache and resilience that I crave in fiction set in the 1930's, in the rough and tumble way that so evokes that era, Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree is a story of healing and redemption.  This is a work of Southern fiction to slowly savor, with characters that will linger.

This review refers to a digital copy I voluntarily received through #HFVBTBlogTours. A positive review was not required and all opinions expressed are my own.

Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree is Historical Fiction written for the general market and contains adult language and content.

[Anne Gregor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would begin by telling readers that Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree is a sweeping, Southern drama - but Lord Almighty - that doesn't even begin to conjure the backbreaking cotton fields, scorched red earth, devotion to family, to survival, social intricacies and judgment, the drought-laden penury of early twentieth-century Georgia, starvation, and forgiveness that rests between its covers.

There is an ease in Lawson's style of writing, a quality whereby the reader is taken, transported - we are there, breathing in Georgia's heat, skin prickles with fine-fingered dust, we are weary of Billy Rev's revival, incensed over Harvey's segregation, crushed with Sivvy's impossible plight, stand in the combined shadows of O.T. and Walt... their bond beautiful, the  rustling trees and music of the mountains call us - we laugh, dance, fear, and cry.

This is a novel for the ages. Lillah Lawson will be included alongside such acclaimed authors as William Faulkner, Mark Twain, and Harper Lee. Though the release date for Monarchs is very much in the present, this novel has the wherewithal to skip the test of time and critique and be placed within the hallowed shelves of classics.

Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree is a reader's treasure. You will read it, you will love it, and you will remember...

Kris
Whiskey & Wit Book Reviews

[Mandy-Suzanne Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly researched and meticulously structured in vivid prose, Lillah Lawson’s Monarchs Under the Sassafras Tree brings the Depression-era US south to startling life. Struggling to survive in constant terror of diseases sown by poverty, of racist lynch mobs, and of evangelical threats of eternal punishment; O.T., a white farmer, is driven to alcoholism and Sivvy, a racially mixed aspiring preacher, hounded into madness by devastating grief—one unendurable loss after another. A cinematic exploration of a harsh and beautiful land, Lawson’s novel simultaneously plunges into the caverns of broken hearts, at every turn feeling everything so keenly that to read this book is to be swept along throbbing by currents tumbling and soaring.

[Edith Brideau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The characters quickly became real people that I cared about. The story was so full of twists and turns, as told by several different characters, that it was hard to put down. The author captured the dialect, recipes, mannerisms and culture of north Georgia in the early 20th century. Sometimes, a story will be interesting but the author's style or word choice gets in the way. Not so with this book. Beautifully written. Kept my interest right up to the last page. Then I was sad to say goodbye to characters that meant so much to me. I look forward to reading more from this author.

[E.G. Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was not at all what I expected. The characters started off a little naive, but grew into something absolutely realistic. They devleoped problems that we only really seem to have started talking about in the last ten years or so. The journey from nothing to joy was well thought out and well executed. And the writing itself was done spectacularly well, bringing to mind the dialect and character of the region. Definitely on my best books of the year list.
(I received a copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.)

[Angela Hardwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who loves to read Southern small county places that feel like home...It is a good read from cover to cover...I felt like the characters could have been my own family...Touched on a lot of moving realistic subjects hidden in the closet in that period and now..Keeps you going thru the pages in a myriad of emotions; Happy, Sad, Mad, Hurt, etc...A story that will stay in your thoughts long after the last page! Unforgettable! You don't want to miss this one!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will break your heart in the best way! As a Southerner who loves history, I found this book to be such a treat. The author knows how to throw you right into the past, with beautifully painted settings from the past that will feel like your new home. These characters will break your heart and make you smile and laugh over and over and over again. Two enthusiastic thumbs up! You don't want to miss this one!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written. Being familiar with the places in the book, it makes me see them with new eyes. I want to find the sassafras tree and visit the asylum. The story draws you in. It feels so real and I found myself laughing and crying and laughing again with O.T. and Sivvy. This one with stay with me for a while.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the storytelling and characters, and the setting was well known to me (both areas!).

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engrossing historical fiction.

[Sara Pauff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the lyrical writing and the wide cast of interesting characters. Sivvy’s story was tragic but also my favorite part of the book.

[Melanie Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites!

[Tiffany Speed · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many editorial errors. Also it takes a good 100 pages to become invested in the story. Dialect was a little off for me when they travel to the mountains