Promises to Keep

PROMISES TO KEEP" is the third book in the "Rose Series." It continues the story of Rose Collins, a young Melungeon girl from the mountains of Kentucky. The story is set in the 1950s on a country estate near Bristol, Virginia. In the first book, "The Journey Home," Rose be-comes an orphan and is sent to live with her closest living relative, Margaret Collins Keller. Rose finds that being a dark-skinned child brings hurt and humiliation in the classroom. Carl Cutlipp is the bigoted student who is the bane of her existence. Rose's blood is typed after she is injured in a traffic acci-dent revealing that she is not the daughter of the persons she called mama and daddy. She and Aunt Margaret go on a quest to find her birth parents. On their journey, they meet some memorable characters such as Preacher Smith and his embittered wife. They return to Kentucky to find a children's home that haunts Rose's dreams with a woman dressed in black, wearing granny shoes. John Keller dies and leaves his estate to his former wife, Margaret. An unknown half-brother shows up at the funeral. Thus begins the legal battle for the Keller Estate, which is ultimately resolved in "View from the Attic." Aunt Margaret and James are married. A stranger crashes the wedding reception, who turns out to be Rose's Granny Esther. She threatens to take Rose home to Belleview, Kentucky. The honeymooners leave for the Smoky Mountains with Rose in tow. Their effort to keep her from Esther turns out to be a comedy of errors. Daniel Lewis enters Rose's class late in the school year, causing havoc for the teacher and for Rose. The remainder of the book recounts the end of the "rightful heir story," and the move to the Keller mansion. The inheritance does not insure Rose, her family, and friends that life will be without its stresses and crises. There is a tragic fire, an attack on Margaret, an intricate web of lies to hurt Rose at school, and a near fatal traffic accident. Rose nears graduation from high school, which leads into Book IV, "Return to Bridgetown."