Virtuous Dove

The 19th Century was an incredible time of change and suppression. A great emphasis was placed on values, no matter how misguided they might have been by today’s
standards. Those who were fortunate to be born into wealth, lived a life of privilege, while others were forced to endure such hardships we of the 21st century find hard to believe possible.

Discover how Felicity Phelps, an Abolitionist from a small community off the Chesapeake, survives, after witnessing her mother and father tragically killed while aiding and
abetting a family of runners. Felicity, finds herself homeless and shunned by the people, she once thought of as friends. Even her older brother Erasmus, embittered and ashamed of his parents' actions, casts her aside. Barren and penniless, Felicity reluctantly contacts a distant uncle, Edwin Robbins, from London, England, her beloved grandmother’s homeland, rather than face being sent to the poor farm.

Although Mr. Robbins appears to be generous with traveling arrangements to England, Felicity must accept that the life she once lived as the heiress of a prosperous tobacco and shipping business is over. Reduced to accept a teaching position at a local school near Devon England, Felicity must live with complete strangers, the local Vicar, Benjamin Myles and his newly wed wife Lavinia, old friends of the family.

Within weeks of arriving in England, Felicity with the aide of her new friend, Reverend Myles, uncovers the shocking past of her grandparents. Felicity learns the hard way, that not all appears as it is on the surface of the elite of society. Will her virtues be altered when greed, power, lust and the suppression of the truth test her own belief system and those of others around her?

Doves Collect series begins by expressing both viewpoints of The Civil War. As was the case in the neighboring states of "The Mason Dixon Line" friends and families often fought against one another. The reader chooses what book they wish to start the series, "Virtuous Dove" or "Rebel Dove". Such an approach affords the readers to take a holiday from their present challenges to observe how the characters survived a period of history just as dangerous and charged as our own.

"Rebel Dove" comes to life with all the energy, passion, and brashness of America in her tumultuous youth while "Virtuous Dove" captures a sedate traditional look on life as it was in Victoria England. Felicity- A sweet, demure, and virtuous daughter of the South, Elise- Passionate, rebellious and manipulative spoiled Southern Belle. One will lose everything to fight for what is right. The other will forgiveness and true love.

Two women whose paths are destined to cross when unforeseen circumstances lead them to post Civil
War in "Dove’s Migration" book three followed by the Industrial Age in "Soiled Dove" book four.