Hallie Reads: The Witness Tree | Guest Post + Giveaway

26 September 2019

The Witness Tree | Guest Post + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

To gain his wife, he must break her heart.

Past betrayal has turned John Kliest’s passion to his work as a builder and surveyor in the Moravian town of Salem, North Carolina. Now, to satisfy the elders’ edict and fulfill his mission in Cherokee Territory, he needs a bride. But the one woman qualified to record the Cherokee language longs for a future with his younger brother.

Clarissa Vogler’s dream of a life with Daniel Kliest is shattered when she is chosen by lot to marry his older brother and venture into the uncharted frontier. Can she learn to love this stoic man who is now her husband? Her survival hinges on being able to trust him—but they both harbor secrets.

Publisher: Smitten

Release Date: September 16, 2019

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Denise Weimer holds a journalism degree with a minor in history from Asbury University. She’s an editor for the historical imprints of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas as well as the author of the Georgia Gold series, The Restoration Trilogy, and a number of romantic novellas, including Across Three Autumns of Barbour’s Backcountry Brides Collection. Represented by Hartline Literary Agency, Denise is a wife and mom of two daughters who always pauses for old houses, coffee, and chocolate!

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GUEST POST FROM THE AUTHOR

Interviewing the Heroine in The Witness Tree

Today we’re chatting not with the author of newly released Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas novel The Witness Tree, Denise Weimer, but with the heroine of the story—Clarissa Kliest. First, a bit of background:

The Witness Tree, Smitten Historical Romance, set in Salem, North Carolina, and Cherokee Indian Territory (now Northwest Georgia)

Past betrayal has turned John Kliest’s passion to his work as a builder and surveyor in the Moravian town of Salem, North Carolina. Now, to satisfy the elders’ edict and fulfill his mission in Cherokee Territory, he needs a bride. But the one woman qualified to record the Cherokee language longs for a future with his younger brother.

Clarissa Vogler’s dream of a life with Daniel Kliest is shattered when she is chosen by lot to marry his older brother and venture into the uncharted frontier. Can she learn to love this stoic man who is now her husband? Her survival hinges on being able to trust him—but they both harbor secrets. (link)

Blog: Thank you for joining us today, Clarissa. Why don’t you start by telling us how you and John met?

Clarissa: Well, I remembered John from the time he came to my father’s gunsmith shop to commission a rifle. That was back when I was a girl. He’d stayed to supper and asked my father all kinds of questions about the Cherokee Indians, because he knew my father had visited them once. But I didn’t interact with him for many years after that. In our Moravian town of Salem, North Carolina, men and women were kept separate until they were ready for marriage. And a man didn’t ask a lady to wed until it had been approved by the elders and the lot.

Blog: The lot?

Clarissa: Drawing slips of paper that said yes, no, or wait out of a bowl. After prayer, of course, as they did it in the Bible. Anyway, I had an understanding with Daniel Kliest, John’s younger brother. A secret understanding. He had painted my portrait, and I wanted to study art. He’d promised to take me with him when he went to Philadelphia to study under a master painter. But then I learned someone had asked for my hand, and that it was John, not Daniel.

Blog: I imagine that was a shock.

Clarissa: The worst kind. John was older, aloof, and, well, quite handsome. In a scary way. … Daniel and I used to pass messages in the witness tree that marked the corner of Moravian property. When I went to check for a note, John found me there. I wasn’t happy to see him because I thought he had cut in on Daniel.

Blog: How did you ever get past that?

Clarissa: It took a long time to build trust and allow our secrets to come out. John was wary of me as well. Not only had he been forced into marriage by the elders in order to fulfill his dream of going to Cherokee Territory, but some things in this past made him guarded. It didn’t help that I kept looking bad next to another sister who traveled to Cherokee Territory with us. Rosina was perfect. John thought me woefully inadequate for the wilderness. I had to work hard to show him otherwise. Eventually, he warmed up to the idea of having a wife. Quite a bit.

Blog: That’s good to hear. Did things get better once you got to Cherokee Territory?

Clarissa: Goodness, no. We had to share a cabin with Rosina and her husband! Indians were constantly staying with us so that we got no privacy. I found out that John had kept some secrets about Daniel. And then we learned that my recording the Cherokee language put us in grave danger.

Blog: Oh, my. That sounds like a good place to direct the reader to your book—before we get into spoilers! We look forward to learning more in The Witness Tree.

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