Lighting the Fiery Cross

This historical novel, although fictional, is based on true events.

From 1915 to 1920, the United States was challenged by a societal struggle to maintain traditional values while simultaneously embracing modernism. The introduction of prohibition, women's suffrage, the great world war, increased migration, and the Spanish Flu, was met with increased bias and religious opposition, most notably from the dangerous hate group, the Ku Klux Klan.

The story begins with two inseparable young friends, Rose from a wealthy and loving Catholic family, and Maybelle from an impoverished dysfunctional Protestant family. As tragedy forces the best friends apart their paths diverge, causing the distance between them to grow wider. Rose becomes a lawyer and social crusader, while Maybelle is led down increasingly darker avenues, eventually finding opportunity within the KKK to gain authority and prosperity for herself. When the two finally meet again, will their bonds forged in childhood innocence be strong enough to overcome their differences, or will they find themselves at a crossroad?

The first book in The Klanswoman Trilogy, Lighting the Fiery Cross, examines the Klan's tribalistic nature as they worked in Oregon to spread their message and increase their memberships. When women began joining the Klan, it made the KKK agenda more socially acceptable and allowed them to disguise their true motivations of hatred and greed behind masks of righteousness. Their guarantee of safety and prosperity quickly became a draw to those who felt disenfranchised, threatened, or alone in a world that was changing too rapidly.