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Moonlight Melodies of Copper & Pine
There is a barrier that exists between the living and the dead. Between memory and thought, yesterday and tomorrow. A line that cannot be stepped over.
Four lives, one island. Four lives, tangled and snarled together creating the future. It is 1843 and the isle of Mackinac still shines brightly from her perch on the straits of the wild north. An island full of interesting characters and native enchantment.
A young woman with strange gifts of magic, years to leave the shores she knows too well. She wants nothing more than to capture the life that floats just beyond the waves.
A young man who feels his body is a prison. His weaknesses making him worthless in a place where action and daring are prized.
The English doctor, who cannot forget the sins of his past, or move beyond the blood that flares crimson on his hands and in his memories.
And a lawyer, who has no home. He is part Huron, and part French, a stranger amongst all people. Despite his loneliness, he fights relentlessly for the rights of the natives. No matter the cost to himself or those whom he loves. Moonlight Melodies tells the story of murder and redemption, of passion and sacrifice. A story as wild as the northern moonlight shining through the darkness of pine boughs, with magic as old as the island itself.
Four lives, one island. Four lives, tangled and snarled together creating the future. It is 1843 and the isle of Mackinac still shines brightly from her perch on the straits of the wild north. An island full of interesting characters and native enchantment.
A young woman with strange gifts of magic, years to leave the shores she knows too well. She wants nothing more than to capture the life that floats just beyond the waves.
A young man who feels his body is a prison. His weaknesses making him worthless in a place where action and daring are prized.
The English doctor, who cannot forget the sins of his past, or move beyond the blood that flares crimson on his hands and in his memories.
And a lawyer, who has no home. He is part Huron, and part French, a stranger amongst all people. Despite his loneliness, he fights relentlessly for the rights of the natives. No matter the cost to himself or those whom he loves. Moonlight Melodies tells the story of murder and redemption, of passion and sacrifice. A story as wild as the northern moonlight shining through the darkness of pine boughs, with magic as old as the island itself.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 14, 2015
12 people want to read
About the author
Alexandria V. Nolan
10 books27 followersALEXANDRIA NOLAN was born and grew up in and around the Michigan's second motor city, Flint. She attended the University of Michigan, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English. After graduation from university in 2008, Alexandria moved to Texas to teach History, English and Writing in the public school system. In the spring of 2013, she left teaching to write full time.
She is the author of "Shears of Fate" a novella, "Wide, Wild, Everywhere" a book of short stories, "Starlight Symphonies of Oak & Glass" A novel of early Michigan, and "The Library of Panopticon" a time-slip fantasy. She maintains a lifestyle blog, Greetings from Nolandia, and is a frequent contributor to various online and print publications. Alexandria is currently working on a historical fantasy, and also the sequel to "Starlight Symphonies".
She resides in Houston, Texas with her husband, Terrence. When she is not writing she is traveling or reading, or reading about traveling.
She is the author of "Shears of Fate" a novella, "Wide, Wild, Everywhere" a book of short stories, "Starlight Symphonies of Oak & Glass" A novel of early Michigan, and "The Library of Panopticon" a time-slip fantasy. She maintains a lifestyle blog, Greetings from Nolandia, and is a frequent contributor to various online and print publications. Alexandria is currently working on a historical fantasy, and also the sequel to "Starlight Symphonies".
She resides in Houston, Texas with her husband, Terrence. When she is not writing she is traveling or reading, or reading about traveling.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 12, 2020
I was born in Michigan City, Indiana, a town on the southern shore of Lake Michigan. Books about any of the Great Lakes call to me; historical fiction occurring there calls even louder.
The year is 1843 and the location is Mackinac Island MI.
Four people are described
Raven (Coralie)- a girl with magical powers
Jacques-her brother who was 'born too early' and has a weak heart and lungs
Henri Crow-half white/half Indian, he has become a lawyer to fight for justice for his people
Peregrine-a medical doctor with a guilty past
Raven and Jacques are the children of Jean-Luc Delacroix, the owner of Cross Shipping. He is a champion for the Indian, but someone is trying to undermine his credibility with the Indians. Crow comes to correct the cause of Indian complaints, but soon finds he has been misled. There is also the story of Peregrine that needs to become unraveled.
4 stars
The year is 1843 and the location is Mackinac Island MI.
Four people are described
Raven (Coralie)- a girl with magical powers
Jacques-her brother who was 'born too early' and has a weak heart and lungs
Henri Crow-half white/half Indian, he has become a lawyer to fight for justice for his people
Peregrine-a medical doctor with a guilty past
Raven and Jacques are the children of Jean-Luc Delacroix, the owner of Cross Shipping. He is a champion for the Indian, but someone is trying to undermine his credibility with the Indians. Crow comes to correct the cause of Indian complaints, but soon finds he has been misled. There is also the story of Peregrine that needs to become unraveled.
4 stars
March 26, 2019
A true book of beauty.
I usually tear through a good book anxious to devour its story. But I curiously found myself coming to an abrupt halt , having started our ferociously. The reason being was I had suddenly become aware of the fact that for once I was finding myself reading a book of incredible beauty. The pros put to paper were so beautifully and eloquently written that I could not do them the great injustice of flying over these pages. Instead, I found that I was reading and contemplating on what I had read, as the words used held such a hypnotic feeling over my being. This book is not just a story put to paper, but a work of art flowing from the beautiful talented spirit of this author. I read this book on my Kindle, but I now plan on adding it to my physical library as a treasure. I’m not one to be easily moved to tears, so you must imagine my own shock at finding myself crying at the end. The book touched something deep in my soul.
I have visited Mackinac Island as a teen with my family on vacation. Honestly I do not remember one thing about the island sadly. Today I’m retired and living near Traverse City, a transplant from Illinois. I am most anxious to visit the island with renewed vision of its history and beauty.
My deepest thanks to this amazing author for giving me the gift of a very incredible story. My soul blesses you.
I usually tear through a good book anxious to devour its story. But I curiously found myself coming to an abrupt halt , having started our ferociously. The reason being was I had suddenly become aware of the fact that for once I was finding myself reading a book of incredible beauty. The pros put to paper were so beautifully and eloquently written that I could not do them the great injustice of flying over these pages. Instead, I found that I was reading and contemplating on what I had read, as the words used held such a hypnotic feeling over my being. This book is not just a story put to paper, but a work of art flowing from the beautiful talented spirit of this author. I read this book on my Kindle, but I now plan on adding it to my physical library as a treasure. I’m not one to be easily moved to tears, so you must imagine my own shock at finding myself crying at the end. The book touched something deep in my soul.
I have visited Mackinac Island as a teen with my family on vacation. Honestly I do not remember one thing about the island sadly. Today I’m retired and living near Traverse City, a transplant from Illinois. I am most anxious to visit the island with renewed vision of its history and beauty.
My deepest thanks to this amazing author for giving me the gift of a very incredible story. My soul blesses you.
Read
November 28, 2016Alexandria Nolan’s latest book, Moonlight Melodies of Copper and Pine is her second book in a series. The first, Starlight Symphonies of Oak and Glass was set in Mackinac Island, Michigan in 1826. That story was told through the eyes of four people and introduced the reader to the beautiful emerald island in far northern Michigan at a time when native American Indians were as common as the European settlers and the crystal blue waters and deep green forests were still pristine. Moonlight Melodies is told through the eyes of the next generation of family members living on that magical island.
It is a historical novel, but one that focuses on day to day life in the wild woods of Northern Michigan rather than on a well-known event or person. As the author says in the postscript, “I find that the little people, for whom we usually do not have much in the way of historical records, are far more fascinating”. And what a fascinating group of characters she has created. A beautiful and passionate young woman who has inherited some of her mother’s magical ability, an intelligent and driven lawyer, with a modern education but strong ties to his Native American roots, a British doctor with a troubled history searching for meaning. She imagines what life could have been like in that special time before every snippet of life was digitally captured and recorded.
Magic is a common theme in Nolan’s books. Moonlight Melodies story includes both the local settlers as well as the Native Americans who have inhabited Northern Michigan for centuries. It is a magical time, when the Native Americans’ beliefs included spirits and ghosts and the local settlers often embraced these beliefs since their western education and Christian upbringing could not explain many of the mysteries encountered during the cold nights where stars shone like jewels above the dark forests. Nolan definitely sees the magic of the far north and exaggerates it just a bit in her stories so we with less imagination can also begin to see the possibilities.
Nolan is a great travel writer and this skill is evident in her descriptions of Mackinac Island, Lake Huron and the surrounding countryside. She writes in a way that you can smell the pine needles as a young girl walks through the deep pine forests, you feel the steely cold water of Lake Huron as a man swims to shore. The island itself becomes a character in the book, unspoiled and beautiful but isolated, wild and unforgiving to those not strong enough to handle the challenges it presents or to those not in tune to the spirits that govern. Anyone who has spent time there will recognize it immediately; those who have not will be making plans to visit.
The book moves at a fast pace. You are in the hands of a master story teller who believes in the power of story-telling. Throughout the book, the characters tell stories to each other, to educate, to preserve culture, to escape and to entertain. These mini-tales are one of the best parts of the book. Dive into this novel and you will be introduced to a handful of fascinating characters that will captivate your interest and take you on a journey through a special, magical place in mid nineteenth century America where the possibilities were endless.
It is a historical novel, but one that focuses on day to day life in the wild woods of Northern Michigan rather than on a well-known event or person. As the author says in the postscript, “I find that the little people, for whom we usually do not have much in the way of historical records, are far more fascinating”. And what a fascinating group of characters she has created. A beautiful and passionate young woman who has inherited some of her mother’s magical ability, an intelligent and driven lawyer, with a modern education but strong ties to his Native American roots, a British doctor with a troubled history searching for meaning. She imagines what life could have been like in that special time before every snippet of life was digitally captured and recorded.
Magic is a common theme in Nolan’s books. Moonlight Melodies story includes both the local settlers as well as the Native Americans who have inhabited Northern Michigan for centuries. It is a magical time, when the Native Americans’ beliefs included spirits and ghosts and the local settlers often embraced these beliefs since their western education and Christian upbringing could not explain many of the mysteries encountered during the cold nights where stars shone like jewels above the dark forests. Nolan definitely sees the magic of the far north and exaggerates it just a bit in her stories so we with less imagination can also begin to see the possibilities.
Nolan is a great travel writer and this skill is evident in her descriptions of Mackinac Island, Lake Huron and the surrounding countryside. She writes in a way that you can smell the pine needles as a young girl walks through the deep pine forests, you feel the steely cold water of Lake Huron as a man swims to shore. The island itself becomes a character in the book, unspoiled and beautiful but isolated, wild and unforgiving to those not strong enough to handle the challenges it presents or to those not in tune to the spirits that govern. Anyone who has spent time there will recognize it immediately; those who have not will be making plans to visit.
The book moves at a fast pace. You are in the hands of a master story teller who believes in the power of story-telling. Throughout the book, the characters tell stories to each other, to educate, to preserve culture, to escape and to entertain. These mini-tales are one of the best parts of the book. Dive into this novel and you will be introduced to a handful of fascinating characters that will captivate your interest and take you on a journey through a special, magical place in mid nineteenth century America where the possibilities were endless.
August 10, 2016
I enjoyed this book thoroughly! Loved the characters, thought it was interesting how the characters we came to love in Starlight were not the focus of the book - the next generation held the attention of each chapter. I thought the book progressed beautifully until it hit the climax and everything erupted - a bunch of people died (like, important people). They just died. And character development happened so suddenly. All of the sudden the person you're hoping for so-and-so to end up with, their perfect match, dies, and you're supposed to believe that this other person is good enough... This other person who had no interest in anyone or anything.
Anyway, it was great. Loved being on the island and walking through the forest with these characters. I miss my favorite one who died, which shows she created love able characters. Well written, a fun read.
Anyway, it was great. Loved being on the island and walking through the forest with these characters. I miss my favorite one who died, which shows she created love able characters. Well written, a fun read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews