Book #1 from the series: The Silk Trilogy

Silk

Caroline's Story

Available At:

About

Headless dolls, horse races, and arson—the tools of passion. It’s 1899, and Caroline Corbett is ready for the twentieth century. She’s excited to find work and meet new people—but gets more than expected when a rough-hewn Lowcountry farmer and a small-town doctor both engage her affections.
The broad-shouldered, genial farmer is clear about his desires, and he’s there for her. The doctor is sophisticated, educated, and obviously the right choice—but sees no reason to dwell on certain realities.
In trying to decide between them, Caroline fails to consider the girl Jessie. A young sociopath bent on her own way, Jessie Bell sees very good reasons to dredge up unpleasant realities—and to create new ones. Before long, this South Carolina landscape is riddled with the detritus of her intense jealousies, which have set astonishing and horrifying events into motion.

*IndieBRAG medallion recipient.

*Shelf Unbound Finalist for 2021 Best Indie Book Award.

*Next Generation Indie Book Awards 2021 Finalist in the category of Historical Fiction.

*American Fiction Awards 2021 Finalist in the category of Family Saga.

*Shortlisted for the 2021 Goethe Award by Chanticleer International.

*Book Excellence Awards 2022 Finalist in the Historical category.

*National Indie Excellence Awards 16th Annual Finalist in the category of Regional Fiction: Southeast.

*Historical Fiction Company 2022 HFC 'Highly Recommended' Award.

*Literary Titan Gold Book Award, July 2022.

*Chanticleer International's 2023 Best Series Award finalist (as part of The Silk Trilogy).


Praise for this book

'Silk: Caroline's Story' by Sophia Alexander is a masterpiece! ...The plot was enthralling, and the storyline was filled with emotional moments. Sophia was realistic in her character and story development, showing that everything is far from cut and dried when it involves matters of the heart.

[Jessie's] passion is magnetic right to the end of the story. Alexander does a good job of fleshing out all of the other major characters, but the novel belongs to dangerous, deadly Jessie... A richly atmospheric tale about two very different women seeking their ideal loves.

In the tradition of the Southern Gothics, the tale is dark and the characters' golden hopes are merely gilding... Jealousy, murder, and confusion infect Carrie and Anne's halcyon lives. Even the dream of a perfect marriage and women's freedom is an illusion - just as illusory as the idyllic Southern Past.

Dr. Conner and Clayton Bell are prime examples of the class differences in the Carolinas... readers will be torn between who is the favorite and who should end up with Caroline. It is a whirlwind following the three of them and watching Jessie maneuvering in the background... There is never a dull moment in the plot. The descriptions are vivid, and you feel like you are there in the old south, experiencing the changes in the society as they happen.

This is gorgeous, richly layered historical fiction with a hint of something more that takes it to another level.

The social realism of Jane Austen meets the Southern gothic of Flannery O'Connor in this absorbing novel by Sophia Alexander. Silk: Caroline's Story explores questions of longing and desire, of jealousy and heartbreak, and of the fateful choices that shape one's destiny—or doom us completely. Alexander has a true gift for illuminating the most intimate desires of her historical characters in this richly drawn book that I couldn't put down.