It is March of 1865, and Adaire Sanderson prepares to defend her home, Sand Hill Farm, against Union forces at Bentonville, N.C. With the help of her life-long, and formerly enslaved, companion Ludie Sanders, Adaire disguises herself in her dead husband's uniform to search for her young son . . . a journey that takes her into the deadly center of the last major battle of the Civil War.

It is April of 1885, and Ludie Sander's 23-year-old daughter, Millie, crosses a creek and comes face-to-face with the bore of a long-barreled pistol. Even though her brutal attacker is discovered, Millie's life is forever changed . . . and the consequences damage the relationship between the black, and the white family, at Sand Hill Farm.

It is June of 1903, and Anna McLean, a talented musician and painter, moves to Sand Hill Farm. Anna, Adaire, Ludie and Millie form an alliance that carries them through the twisted revelations of an elopement that ends in tragedy . . . a forbidden liaison that binds both the families in silence for the next forty years.

It is November of 1917, and Anna McLean Sanderson defies her husband and organizes a woman's suffrage group in her home in Baker, N.C. Later, she and Millie turn their attention to several black children who are orphaned when their mother dies of a self-induced abortion. Ironically, Anna learns the details of how her beloved sister-in-law has attempted the same.

It is July of 1932, and Maddie Gaston emerges from the filth of a cattle car where she has secretly traveled for three days. Hunger forces her to search the town of Baker, N.C. for "the sign"-a cross carved on a doorpost that will let her know someone cares. She discovers the sign at Anna Sanderson's house, where she is fed and offered a job… and her fate is tied, thereafter, to that of Anna and Millie.

The Bed she was Born In unfolds in riveting scenes of courage, compassion, and endurance. Chance brings these women together, but a spiritual covenant of love and trust enables them to overcome betrayal, violence, and the debilitating effects of racism and sexism in a turbulent era of American history.

about the author
Jeri Fitzgerald Board grew up in Johnston County, N.C., just a few miles from the site of the Battle of Bentonville. She is a retired administrator with the University of North Carolina, and a former professor of African-American Studies and American Women Writers, at Duke University and St. Andrews Presbyterian College. She lives in Tryon, N.C.