A Simple Man

by Roy Jeffords

The year is 1924 in the small town of Wrenton, SC, and Caleb and Nancy Muldrow are preparing for the birth of their first child when the unthinkable happens—Nancy dies in childbirth. Caleb, a 21-year-old uneducated sharecropper, is then faced with the biggest challenge of his life when he decides to keep a promise he made to Nancy to raise their child himself in the event of her death. Nancy’s love transcends her death, however, as unbeknownst to Caleb, she extracts another promise from her deathbed, and enlists the help of the farm’s midwife. Initially reluctant to help, the midwife is haunted by her promise and finally provoked by Caleb’s overbearing mother-in-law into making Caleb and the baby part of her family. Come share the love, laughter, and tears while Caleb and his daughter grow up together as they make their way through life.

240 pages, Paperback

Published July 8, 2003

About the author

Somewhere in his early thirties, Roy decided he should do something to justify the money his parents and the scholarship committee spent on his English degree. Writing a short story seemed appropriate, so he wrote "Ozymandias". It won an award, so he wrote another one. That one didn't win anything, but it was published, and he wrote more of them. One morning he woke up and realized he'd finally figured out what he wants to do when he grows up. He's been writing ever since.

Roy grew up in the South Carolina swamps and graduated from The Citadel, located in Charleston SC. He and his wife, Rachel, currently live in the Dallas, TX area. Rachel hopes that, in addition to keeping him out of her hair, Roy's writing habit will one day earn enough money for them to retire to the Carolina coast.

In addition to his day job, Roy is working on his third novel and ghost writing a nonfiction project.