American history as experienced by ordinary people.
When I write, I look for the little-known events in American history, the shocking, “I never knew that” moments. Then, through intimate story and exacting historical detail, I invite readers to immerse themselves in the sights, sounds, and emotions of a period. My hope is that my books not only serve as a springboard for readers to learn more about our nation’s history, but bring the realization that, in many ways, our ancestors’ dreams, challenges, and reactions were not so different from our own.
Available Now!
Our Lesser Angels
A Novel of the Elmira Civil War Prison Camp
Fifteen years after the end of the American Civil War, a North Carolina widow travels to Elmira, NY, a site of an infamous Confederate prisoner of war camp, to confront… Read More
“This is a stunning literary feat – intelligently composed and historically rigorous …. An enthralling work that captures the moral murkiness of war.” – Kirkus Reviews
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Consecrated Dust
A Novel of the Civil War North
On September 17, 1862, an explosion at the Allegheny Arsenal in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, kills seventy-eight girls rolling bullet cartridges for the Union army… Read More
“Mary Frailey Calland bridges the gap between historian and storyteller….Rich in historic detail, Consecrated Dust is a narrative window to the past.” – Michael Kraus, Curator of Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum, Pittsburgh, PA.