Book 3

Know Nothing

by Mary Lee Settle

Published 1 January 1960
Set in the decades preceding the Civil War, this third volume of The Beulah Quintet - Mary Lee Settle's unforgettable generational saga about the roots of American culture, class, and identity and the meaning of freedom - tells the tragic tale of Peregrine Catlett and his second son, Johnny. The year 1837 brings a host of perils to the verdant Virginia valley where Peregrine, a third-generation American, is the owner of Beulah. Amid financial panic, debate over the abolition of slavery, and mounting tension between North and South, Peregrine considers freeing his slaves but believes that, with his children scattered, his only hope of retaining his livelihood rests on the use of slave labor. Tied to the land by a special bond, Johnny returns to his father's farm but stays only until the outbreak of hostilities. As a Confederate soldier, Johnny is aware of the tragedy to come. But family ties outweigh convictions, and he ends up fighting in the war with disastrous results.

Vol 2

O Beulah Land

by Mary Lee Settle

Published 1 January 1956
Follows the odyssey of a young man's descendants as he leaves England in search of freedom and a better way of life.

Vol 4

The Scapegoat

by Mary Lee Settle

Published 12 September 1980
Set in 1912, The Scapegoat propels readers towards a fateful day in a coal miners' strike when distant relatives of the Beulah dynasty, only dimly aware of their blood ties, face off in a dispute that escalates into a frenzy of violence and ends in the slaughter of an innocent man.

Vol 5

The Killing Ground

by Mary Lee Settle

Published 14 February 1983
Hannah McKarkle returns to her roots in Beulah County, West Virginia, to discover the truth about her brother Johnny's mysterious death in jail.

Vol 1

Prisons

by Mary Lee Settle

Published 12 March 1981
"A work of truth and beauty -- beautifully written, beautiful to read". -- George Garrett