Read by Sarah Zimmerman

Count your nights by stars, not shadows. Count your life with smiles, not tears. 1961. After a longtime resident at Nashville's historic Maxwell House Hotel suffers a debilitating stroke, Audrey Whitfield is tasked with cleaning out the reclusive woman's room. There, she discovers an elaborate scrapbook filled with memorabilia from the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Love notes on the backs of unmailed postcards inside capture Audrey's imagination with hints of a forbidden romance . . . and troubling revelations about the disappearance of young women at the exposition. Audrey enlists the help of a handsome hotel guest as she tracks down clues and information about the mysterious "Peaches" and her regrets over one fateful day, nearly sixty-five years earlier. 1897. Outspoken and forward-thinking Priscilla Nichols isn't willing to settle for just any man. She's still holding out hope for love when she meets Luca Moretti on the eve of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Charmed by the Italian immigrant's boldness, Priscilla spends time exploring the wonderous sights of the expo with Luca―until a darkness overshadows the monthslong event. Haunted by a terrible truth, Priscilla and Luca are sent down separate paths as the night's stars fade into dawn. Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels. Her work is included in numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books, magazines, and blogs. As a woman of mixed heritage--her father's family is Hispanic and her mother's roots go back to Germany--she celebrates diversity and feels it's important to see the world through the eyes of one another. Learning from the past and changing the future is why she writes historical fiction. Her historical time-slip novel, UNDER THE TULIP TREE, a 2021 Christy Award and Selah Award Finalist, is set in 1930s & 1860s Nashville and tells a story of unlikely friendship, reconciliation, and forgiveness. Based on extensive research into the Federal Writers' Project Slave Narratives of 1936, as well as the writings of Frederick Douglass and others, many of the scenes in UNDER THE TULIP TREE are taken directly from the pages of history. Library Journal gave UNDER THE TULIP TREE a starred review. With both her sons grown, she and her husband now make their home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about. Michelle loves hearing from readers! Connect with her at www.MichelleShocklee.com

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