Watermelon Winter

Set in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains at the close of the Great Depression and the dawn of World War II, Watermelon Winter follows seventeen-year-old Pearl Harfield's journey to become a nurse and midwife while fighting for her place in a world where women's choices are limited.

Set in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains at the close of the Great Depression and the dawn of World War II, Watermelon Winter tells the coming-of-age story of seventeen-year-old Pearl Harfield, a true Appalachian girl—planted deep in hard clay, but determined to grow beyond the fences that close her in.

Pearl lives in a world where men make the rules and women quietly follow. But she's not the quiet type. As her mother gives birth to an unexpected baby in late summer, Pearl's dreams of nursing school seem to evaporate like mist on the mountain. Still, she presses on—because that's what Appalachian women do. We help birth life, carry burdens, and keep moving forward.

As her town is swept up in war and ration stamps, Pearl fights for what few girls dare to ask: equal pay, equal privilege, and a path beyond the holler. When the government launches the Cadet Nurse Corps to address the national nursing shortage, Pearl seizes the opportunity—completing an accelerated RN program and later earning her midwife certification in Kentucky. But resilience alone isn't enough. She must also learn to rein in her defiant spirit, temper her brashness, and forge a life on her own terms without losing what makes her fierce.

Watermelon Winter is a love letter to the valley that raised her and the voices that shaped her: her mother and Gran, her best friend Cookie, her mentor Caroline, and the generations of strong, stubborn, Appalachian women who came before her. This novel is about more than survival. It's about claiming your place, even when no one saves you a seat at the table.

Through sweat, heartbreak, and the hum of locusts in the trees, Pearl becomes the kind of woman who doesn't just endure—she thrives.