Ellis River
a novel by Nicki Ehrlich
The Civil War scattered her family and now, along with her beloved horse, a young woman must travel across a war-torn country to collect what’s left of her life.
For fifteen-year-old Ellis Cady, life has gone quiet on her western Tennessee homestead. Her father and older brother left to sell horses to the army two years earlier and never returned. She watched her mother’s health decline, finally succumbing to a broken heart. Her twin brother left in search of their father, and while he was gone neighbors moved out of their Quaker community, searching for peace ahead of the final sweep of war.
Ellis is left with nothing but the company of the remaining horses and the letters and journals she continues to write, trying to make sense of a desolate world. A small band of soldiers rides through to claim the last of the herd, and hope for the return of life as she knew it, evaporates like the mist on the river.
When the head-strong mare, Billie, returns, having escaped from the soldiers, Ellis takes it as a sign to leave. Disguised as a boy, for safety and comfort, she rides off to find her twin. Though war refuses to fade, Ellis stumbles upon an unlikely group of rescuers who teach her family is more than blood, and love has no limits.
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Praise for Ellis River
“Ehrlich’s… sure-handed period language…brings life to perspectives too often unexplored in narratives of the era, with empathy, insight, [and] a touch of romance…” — Publishers Weekly Booklife
“…Ehrlich’s story… is engaging and makes for a quick, heartfelt read. An earnest and poignant bildungsroman.” — Kirkus Review
“Loved it! …[the] novel…will capture your attention from the very beginning…a great adventure.”
“Great for fans of Robin Oliveira [My Name is Mary Sutter] & Charles Frazier [Cold Mountain]”
“Nicki is an artist of words. [The] story pulled me in, investing my mind and heart…This story has action, grit, hope and perseverance.”
The Author
Nicki Ehrlich grew up in Southern Illinois before attending college at the University of Denver and later, Idaho State University, where she graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy/English. After living ten “horse-rich” years in Idaho, she moved on to Oregon, and later Washington, where she realized she had unwittingly traveled the Oregon Trail.
While living in the Pacific Northwest, Nicki continued to write fiction, non-fiction and poetry. She has won awards for her poetry and creative writing, including the Writer’s Digest Annual Poetry Awards and the Ray Fabrizio Memorial Award. Her writing has been published in Scheherazade, the literary magazine of MPC, among other magazines and newspapers. Nicki holds a Certificate in Creative Writing from Monterey Peninsula College and is a member of the Central Coast branch of the California Writers Club. She also holds a Coast Guard Captain’s License and currently lives on California’s inspiring central coast where she is at work on the sequel to Ellis River.
In the News
Book Signing at River House Books (March 26)
Please join me and Christine Sleeter, (members of Central Coast Writers), at River House Books on Sunday, March 26th, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. We will be reading from, and talking about, our most recently published books: Christine’s novel, Family History in Black and White, and my novel, Ellis River. The books share American Civil War history and its themes of prejudice and survival.
Book Signing at Downtown Book & Sound (April 14)
Join me at Salinas’s fabulous bookstore on Main Street! Friday evening, April 14th, 2023. Live music and refreshments will accompany a short reading and Q & A. (Time TBA)
Local authors: Exploring the unraveling of deepest connections
Hers is the story of a girl who grew up loving horses. Grooming them, riding them, reading and watching westerns. Her book is also about a girl and her beloved horse. Yet, unlike her contemporary author, she is a teen, abandoned by a scattered family toward the end of the Civil War who, armored by her disguise as a boy, travels with her horse across a war-torn country in search of what remains of her kin. Read more >>
Awards
Ray Fabrizio Memorial Award
for Creative Writing
Ellis River Semi-finalist, Booklife Prize