To the Manor Born: A Novel

The Modern Day. The Confederate States of America stretches from Richmond to Los Angeles, locked in perennial struggle with its Cold War rival, the United States. Slavery is legal. Those who endure it fight in fierce pursuit of liberty.

As these dueling nations face off, two enslaved Americans - Atticus and Clara Brooke - emerge as courageous leaders at Rosewood Manor, a sweeping plantation in the foothills of Virginia. There, we also meet Franklin and Cathryn Brooke, the Confederacy's highest-ranking general and his northern-born bride; their daughter Liza, who harbors deep questions but fears the consequences of revolution; and Dale Birch and Kevin Donleau, two dashing Virginians vying for her heart, all while torn between the dreaded Confederate Guard and the underground Resistance.

In this extraordinary feat of alternate history, author Matthew Speiser conjures an all-too-believable world where the Civil War never ended. To the Manor Born propels readers from manicured plantations, to slave quarters burning with the thirst for freedom, to the front lines of both battle and love. In examining this tale of what might have been, this book holds up a mirror to what is.