World War, Devastating Storms and Decades of Family Drama: Read an Excerpt From Where the Rivers Merge (Exclusive)

By Lizz Schumer

You can almost feel the grasses tickling your calves from the very first page of Mary Alice Monroe’s long-anticipated Where the Rivers Merge.

The first of two sweeping epic novels, this one follows a young and headstrong Eliza starting in 1908, as she grows up on the forefront of a changing society in Lowcountry South Carolina. On the grand Mayfield estate, she weathers the Great War and storms both natural and familial.

Fast forward to 1988 and Eliza is 88 and the matriarch of the family — not to mention the fierce protector of Mayfield. As her own horizon approaches, she must decide how to assure the future of both the land and her family, without destroying both.

Click this link to step into Eliza’s world and read PEOPLE Magazine’s exclusive excerpt from Where the Rivers Merge.