VOLUME 1: THE GATHERING

From the Old World to the New

The Adelsverein settlers came to the far Texas frontier.   They brought their hopes and   their children ... and a will to   survive!

Adelsverein: The Gathering is Volume 1 of the Adelsverein Trilogy , a saga of family and community loyalties, and the challenge of building a new life on the hostile frontier.

The year is 1847, and they have come from Germany to Texas in, under the auspices of the "Mainzer Adelsverein" - the society of noblemen of Mainz, who seek to fill a settlement in Texas with German farmers and craftsmen.

Among them is a family who will survive and endure, making their mark in Texas, their new land. Christian "Vati" Steinmetz, the clockmaker of Ulm in Bavaria, has brought his many sons and daughters:   Magda, passionate and courageous, is courted by Carl Becker, a young frontiersman with a dangerous past.   Her sister, Liesel wants nothing more than to be a good wife to her husband Hansi, a stolid and practical farmer who will be called by circumstances to become something greater.   Brothers Friedrich and Johann, who have always been close, will find themselves fighting in the Civil War, but one will wear Union blue, the other Confederate grey homespun. Yet they will never forget that they are brothers.

VOLUME 2: THE SOWING

Loyal to the Union, adamant in their belief that slavery was wrong ... Could they survive the brutal war living in the dark heart of the Confederacy?

Adelsverein: The Sowing is Volume 2 of the Adelsverein Trilogy, following the fortunes of 19th century German settlers who came to Texas seeking land and political freedom.

"Vati" Steinmetz and his children have prospered since they arrived in America. His oldest daughter Magda has married Carl Becker, born him children, and helped him build a happy life as a rancher in the beautiful valley of the Guadalupe River. Vati's son-in-law Hansi Richter has become a successful farmer, and his son Johann has returned from Germany after years of studying to become a doctor.

Ideals, friendships, and cruel circumstances collide as the Civil War comes to the Texas Hill Country. Carl Becker and Hansi Richter face mortal danger from the "hanging band," a pro-Confederate lynch mob seeking to permanently silence the voices of Union sympathizers. Vati's beautiful adopted daughter Rosalie is in love ... with a man who intends to serve in the Confederate Army! Meanwhile, Johann and his twin brother Friedrich are drawn to serve in the war--but on opposite sides.

Adelsverein: The Sowing continues the epic of story of how one family of German immigrants became Americans, through the gut-wrenching tragedy of the Civil War!

VOLUME 3: THE HARVESTING

A war ends...And another begins.

The Confederacy lies in ruins. Those who survived struggle to rebuild homes and lives.

Adelsverein: The Harvesting brings the saga of the Becker and Richter families in the Texas Hill Country to a triumphant conclusion in this final volume of the Adelsverein Trilogy .

The Civil War is over and the soldiers return home, to take up their old lives... if they can. The South has been left broken and defeated. Too many young men are dead, too many families destroyed, homes left wrecked and desolate. And yet there is hope to be found in the ashes, for Hansi Richter and his daughter Anna, for Magda Becker, her son Dolph, and his cousin Peter Vining--all who have the strength, the heart and the courage to begin building their lives again... and to dare to venture the first steps on a new path.

A path of silver and gold, a bold new adventure into the wilderness... yet a the malice of an old enemy still haunts the Becker family, and the constant terror of raids by Comanche Indians may yet destroy Hansi Richter's family.

Adelsverein: The Harvesting -- It's the story of family and of building a life, a future ... and building America!

FOR MORE INFORMATION, THE AUTHOR'S WEBSITE CAN BE FOUND AT www.celiahayes.com.