SUGAR CANE SAINT

RELEASES 6.10.25

Born in 1912 beneath the shadow of the mystical Stone Mountain to a middle-class Georgia farm family, Ruth Shurlington is an unremarkable, though imaginative child who idolizes her father and is mesmerized by the lives of her four older sisters. Evangelical faith and southern tradition guide Ruth and her family through the uncertainties of changing times until the untimely death of their beloved patriarch causes their world to crumble.

In the aftermath of her father’s death, Ruth navigates her servant-like role in a family divided between their failing rural farm and the encroaching urban landscape of nearby Atlanta. When Quillan Johnson, Ruth’s childhood friend and the son of the local preacher proposes marriage, Ruth is certain her life is on the right path. The perfect circle of Biblical womanhood that she has revered in her sisters is on the verge of opening to her. But a chance encounter with Leonidas Brantley, a dangerously charming migrant worker ignites Ruth’s darker curiosity. Through a series of tragic events, she is left unprotected– prey to the wolf that hunts her. On one fatal Sunday afternoon, she sets in motion a savage cycle of violence that prowls through four generations.

Set in the segregated American South and spanning fifty years of American history, the Book of Ruth trilogy begins with Sugar Cane Saint and lays out in brutal honesty how deeply our road is defined by the family to which we are born. As Ruth’s story unravels in harrowing detail, a vivid comparison between a benign and abusive patriarchy reveals a startling thin line between the two. It is a story that explores how violence breeds further violence, leaving the next generation to navigate its painful legacy.

RELEASES WINTER 2025

In this gripping tale of love, control, and survival, Sipping Mercury continues the story of Ruth Shurlington, a young girl who is lured into a rogue marriage with Leonidas Brantley, a charming yet dangerously controlling older man. Running away on an  impromptu honeymoon, Ruth and Leonidas venture into the North Georgia mountains in search of gold. It is there that Ruth first encounters the darkness that lurks within her husband and begins to feel the encroaching shadows of his violently controlling nature.

On their return to Atlanta, Leonidas settles Ruth in the city and begins to systematically isolate her from her family, surrounding her instead with his adoring sisters and doting mother. When Ruth becomes pregnant with her first child, she boldly insists on reconnecting with her own sisters. Despite the Shurlington family’s initial reluctance to welcome Leonidas, he expertly manipulates them and tightens his control over Ruth. Only her sister Lola, who sees through Leonidas's facade, understands the danger Ruth is in.

An unexpected knock at the door brings Hoyt Brantley, Leonidas’ brother, into Ruth’s tenuously held together world. When Hoyt crosses a devastating line, further complicating Ruth's already tense new marriage, Ruth is shook by how deep violence permeates the Brantley family.

As Ruth faces increasing peril, both from her husband's growing possessiveness and from the rising civil unrest in Atlanta, she is not entirely alone. She clings to the matter-of-fact support of her sister Lola and befriends Elmira Keen, a nosy, but well-meaning neighbor who becomes a key ally.

Death mercilessly invades their family—taking one after another into its icy clutches. An ultimatum is given and Ruth, now the mother of four small children, must reckon with the choices she has made. She must decide whether she has the courage to take her children and leave her destructive marriage or succumb to the man who has gained control of every aspect of her life.

RELEASES SPRING 2026

In the final book of the Ruth trilogy, we meet Ruth Brantley’s youngest daughter, Caroline. Caroline Brantley is an excellent hider. She is a protector. She is a whistler. She is a scrappy and determined survivor. She idolizes her big sisters and does her best to keep up with her big brothers. Mostly, she is terrified of her father. Her mother, Ruth, is her only safe harbor, but captured in the cycle of violence herself, Ruth is unable to offer the protection that Caroline so desperately needs.

On one fateful Halloween night, Ruth’s absence leaves Caroline vulnerable, and her father’s cruelty shatters her fragile world. Caroline wishes more than anything that her mother knew the devastating truth about her father, but her shame traps her in silence, further isolating her in the horror of her own reality.

As Caroline grows into a young woman under the barbarous hand of Leonidas, she clings to a sliver of hope that there is a different life for her, one that is symbolized by the picture of a mysterious haloed man displayed on her kitchen wall. However, a final night of violence leads to an ultimate confrontation between Ruth, Caroline, and the monstrous force within their home. The story culminates in a devastating outcome, with only one woman surviving the ordeal. Caroline’s journey towards freedom is marked by a painful reckoning with the truth about her family’s dark history.