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Willows: The Creole
An Amazon #1 Best Seller, The Creole is the third book in The Delegate series, a collection of independent novels written in first-person narrative by Cyndie Shaffstall, author of Seed The Entrepreneur, The Scribe, and The Oracle.
The HeirThe Arceneaux family has a long history of falling victim to circumstance--madness, embezzlement, even murder--but when the last of the unmarried females inherits the family plantation, she is determined their unfortunate legacy will end with her.
After her father is imprisoned in New York, she embarks on a new life in New Orleans with what is left of all the hope she can muster. What she finds is an abandoned house, a fractured family, and an oppressed people. Determined to find her own way, she confronts the challenges head on, and soon realizes change is not something needed only for her, but for many.
People of ColorIn the decades before the Civil War, Louisiana was the most advanced state on the topic of freedom. People of color were successful in business and owned property--some of which they acquired through the gifts or wills of white fathers whose black and mulatto wives and mistresses exacted better lives for their children.
A Step BackwardThe Civil War brought change--any black lineage became cause for discrimination, even in Louisiana--and many blacks and mixed-race persons were relegated to occupations not unlike those of their ancestors. Women, though white, were expected to be hostesses and leave business to men--especially the business of voting.
A Family ReunitedWillows Plantation, still worked by the descendants of the slaves who built it, becomes the anchor to affect change and in a historical fiction story spanning five generations, author Cyndie Shaffstall, takes you on a journey through abolition and suffrage efforts of the 1700s and 1800s. A Voodoo priestess, a French artist, the first woman presidential candidate, and the world’s fair shed light on issues and provide opportunities to reunite and strengthen an entire family.
Each book of The Delegate series reads as though you've come across someone's journal. While you read, the saga envelopes you, and it becomes your journal, and your story, as you are transported through time.
The HeirThe Arceneaux family has a long history of falling victim to circumstance--madness, embezzlement, even murder--but when the last of the unmarried females inherits the family plantation, she is determined their unfortunate legacy will end with her.
After her father is imprisoned in New York, she embarks on a new life in New Orleans with what is left of all the hope she can muster. What she finds is an abandoned house, a fractured family, and an oppressed people. Determined to find her own way, she confronts the challenges head on, and soon realizes change is not something needed only for her, but for many.
People of ColorIn the decades before the Civil War, Louisiana was the most advanced state on the topic of freedom. People of color were successful in business and owned property--some of which they acquired through the gifts or wills of white fathers whose black and mulatto wives and mistresses exacted better lives for their children.
A Step BackwardThe Civil War brought change--any black lineage became cause for discrimination, even in Louisiana--and many blacks and mixed-race persons were relegated to occupations not unlike those of their ancestors. Women, though white, were expected to be hostesses and leave business to men--especially the business of voting.
A Family ReunitedWillows Plantation, still worked by the descendants of the slaves who built it, becomes the anchor to affect change and in a historical fiction story spanning five generations, author Cyndie Shaffstall, takes you on a journey through abolition and suffrage efforts of the 1700s and 1800s. A Voodoo priestess, a French artist, the first woman presidential candidate, and the world’s fair shed light on issues and provide opportunities to reunite and strengthen an entire family.
Each book of The Delegate series reads as though you've come across someone's journal. While you read, the saga envelopes you, and it becomes your journal, and your story, as you are transported through time.
332 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 25, 2015
18 people are currently reading
566 people want to read
About the author
Cyndie Shaffstall
14 books6 followersCyndie Shaffstall, a quintessential entrepreneur in the software industry, wrote her first book in 1992, QuarkXPress: Making the Most of Your Negative Experiences, followed quickly by a dozen after-market computer manuals. In the years since, she has further contributed to the design and business industries as the editor and publisher of X-Ray Magazine and more recently, revealing some of her successful business practices in Small-business Guide to Winning at Web Marketing. Cyndie Shaffstall is a prolific writer of eBooks, case studies, press releases, blog articles, and other online content for her company, Spider Trainers—a provider of automated marketing—and as a contributing blogger to Target Marketing Magazine, among other print and electronic publications. Cyndie Shaffstall is the inventor and patent holder of Sassy Strappings, a fashion accessory. She lives in Denver with her two dogs, Felix Trinidad and Oscar de la Hoya—boxers.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 23, 2020
This book is set in the late 1800's and tells the story of a young woman who left New York City to go to Louisiana after finding out she has inherited a plantation there from a great aunt. Her father has just been imprisoned for his involvement with 'Boss' Tweed. Since she is facing much displeasure among the people of New York because of her relationship to her father, she decides to try finding a new home.
After she goes to the plantation just outside New Orleans, she sets about not only restoring the badly neglected plantation home but also looking after the people who work the plantation, most of whom are related to her in some way. She also becomes involved with working for womens' rights---especially the right to vote for woman.
The reader is never told the first name of the narrator of the story. Although there is a plotline as I have described above, much of the novel focuses on the issues relating not only to womens' rights but also those of the black people at that time. It felt like the author was primarily using the story as a background to her greater aim---to portray the fight for woman's rights.
It was an interesting story and the narrator was definitely an admirable character in all that she set out to do to improve the lives of the women around her.
After she goes to the plantation just outside New Orleans, she sets about not only restoring the badly neglected plantation home but also looking after the people who work the plantation, most of whom are related to her in some way. She also becomes involved with working for womens' rights---especially the right to vote for woman.
The reader is never told the first name of the narrator of the story. Although there is a plotline as I have described above, much of the novel focuses on the issues relating not only to womens' rights but also those of the black people at that time. It felt like the author was primarily using the story as a background to her greater aim---to portray the fight for woman's rights.
It was an interesting story and the narrator was definitely an admirable character in all that she set out to do to improve the lives of the women around her.
June 6, 2015
5 Stars
Having already read Seed Money and Glyphs I felt compelled to read Willows (Creole Delegate book 3). Just like the other two this was also written in the first person narrative, and like the other two books, you feel like this is your own story, that your part of the book, although you cannot quite understand why it makes you feel this way.
Cindie definitely has a knack at pulling you into the stories, making you have so many emotions relating to the story being told, this one had you in various locations like New York City, New Orleans, the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, all very informative and historical information. I felt like I was there on the sidelines watching the grand opening myself and loving every minute of the theatrics of it.
The book steered you towards woman's rights, which of course as a woman I found very interesting and intriguing.
Once again the author has produced a book that makes you feel like this is your diary, your personal journey, maybe this is a speciality of hers, her own secret on how she achieves this perhaps to be told to us later, who knows.
Having already read Seed Money and Glyphs I felt compelled to read Willows (Creole Delegate book 3). Just like the other two this was also written in the first person narrative, and like the other two books, you feel like this is your own story, that your part of the book, although you cannot quite understand why it makes you feel this way.
Cindie definitely has a knack at pulling you into the stories, making you have so many emotions relating to the story being told, this one had you in various locations like New York City, New Orleans, the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, all very informative and historical information. I felt like I was there on the sidelines watching the grand opening myself and loving every minute of the theatrics of it.
The book steered you towards woman's rights, which of course as a woman I found very interesting and intriguing.
Once again the author has produced a book that makes you feel like this is your diary, your personal journey, maybe this is a speciality of hers, her own secret on how she achieves this perhaps to be told to us later, who knows.
February 15, 2016
Ok read
The book started off ok, the next several chapters were really good.then it became boring with to much details spent on the women's movement. The part of her daddy stealing her money and leaving were basically just dropped . The last chapters were to scattered from different things going on. It would have made a good series of books to have further went into where her dad went,what all went on in that.
The book started off ok, the next several chapters were really good.then it became boring with to much details spent on the women's movement. The part of her daddy stealing her money and leaving were basically just dropped . The last chapters were to scattered from different things going on. It would have made a good series of books to have further went into where her dad went,what all went on in that.
January 7, 2016
Thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially as we had recently been to the south and could relate to some of the areas mentioned. The story was well told and kept you reading to the very last page. I must admit I was a bit disappointed at the ending and felt the author maybe ran out of steam. Apart from this it was a very good book, and was a story well told.
September 8, 2015
Willows had all the elements I love in a good book and more. Although I had to wallow through the book’s necessary New York background story, once the protagonist began her journey to find her roots and her independence, I was sold. The novel propelled me into a different time with vivid imagery and an insight into a romantic and mysterious culture that is never without surprises.
October 20, 2015
Good book
This was a great story about a very large family. I like the fact that they all stay together. The way the family is recognized from generation to generation is well documented.
This was a great story about a very large family. I like the fact that they all stay together. The way the family is recognized from generation to generation is well documented.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews