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Lesser Haven: A Florida Novel
After walking away from a career spent chronicling violence and corruption, former newspaper reporter Callie Crispen retreats from Florida’s east coast to Moore Haven, a remote agricultural town pressed against the vast edge of Lake Okeechobee. Renting a cabin in an isolated stretch locals call Lesser Haven, Callie intends to disappear and write.
Instead, she meets Sandra Mae.
Sandy is a teenage girl hidden among the surrounding orange groves, raised in near-total isolation by her fanatically religious and abusive father. She has never been to school, never been to town and has been taught to fear the outside world.
As a quiet friendship forms between the two, Callie begins to see what the town refuses to acknowledge. Faith, fear and unspoken rules bind the community together. Outsiders are warned to mind their business. Questions are met with silence. Protection is reserved for those who conform.
When Callie starts asking the wrong questions, she is forced to confront a brutal truth. She can leave. Sandy cannot.
Set against the stark beauty and moral darkness of rural Florida, Lesser Haven is a haunting literary suspense novel about isolation, complicity and the quiet courage it takes to stand against a system designed to keep certain people invisible.
Perfect for readers who love atmospheric Southern Gothic fiction, morally complex women’s stories and novels where the landscape is as dangerous as the people who inhabit it.
Instead, she meets Sandra Mae.
Sandy is a teenage girl hidden among the surrounding orange groves, raised in near-total isolation by her fanatically religious and abusive father. She has never been to school, never been to town and has been taught to fear the outside world.
As a quiet friendship forms between the two, Callie begins to see what the town refuses to acknowledge. Faith, fear and unspoken rules bind the community together. Outsiders are warned to mind their business. Questions are met with silence. Protection is reserved for those who conform.
When Callie starts asking the wrong questions, she is forced to confront a brutal truth. She can leave. Sandy cannot.
Set against the stark beauty and moral darkness of rural Florida, Lesser Haven is a haunting literary suspense novel about isolation, complicity and the quiet courage it takes to stand against a system designed to keep certain people invisible.
Perfect for readers who love atmospheric Southern Gothic fiction, morally complex women’s stories and novels where the landscape is as dangerous as the people who inhabit it.
255 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 2, 2025
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February 27, 2026
Fantastic debut!
Great read and could relate to so much as a SoFL resident. The author has a fluid voice and the scene descriptors were whimsical yet pragmatic all at once. The story flowed seamlessly. Excited for her Author Talk next month, always love hearing the tale behind the book.
Great read and could relate to so much as a SoFL resident. The author has a fluid voice and the scene descriptors were whimsical yet pragmatic all at once. The story flowed seamlessly. Excited for her Author Talk next month, always love hearing the tale behind the book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review