The Blue Bottle Tree

Set in 1970 Georgia, where the savage days of slavery were taboo to speak about yet still existed with raw emotions. Blacks “free to live” in fear, while resentment festered like an open wound. The tension Hartney creates throughout her historical novel is palpable, while described beneath a thin veil of Southern gentility and a splash of cool sweet tea. Her powerful prose thrusts the reader into American issues most don’t want to face racism, slavery, rape, infidelity, sexuality, guns and murder. Letta is the heroine, Janie and Elijiah are the hope for a more peaceful future. Nancy Hartney has created a masterpiece with panoramic descriptions and picture-perfect details of characters’ gestures and dialog. I thoroughly enjoyed.

– Amazon Reviewer

A complex, memorable novel set in in Georgia, post-Civil Rights Act that will keep you up nights. Hartney weaves a tale of love and hate, loyalty, and conflict that you can’t put down. Amid sweet tea, biscuits and apple pie they dance around threats and violence against themselves and their families. Three women struggle to save each other and escape at the same time. Letta the heroine uses the conjure woman, haints and the blue bottle tree to navigate their way out.

– Good Reads Reviewer