“An artful, false woman shall set thy pillow with thorns,” declares the prosecution in one of North Carolina’s most sensational murder trials. Karen Cecil Smith has written a fictionalized story based on the first woman to be tried for murder in Cumberland County, North Carolina. The year is 1850. It is a time of slavery, superstition, and social snobbery. Exotic and shapely beauty Maria Stafford stands accused of killing her prosperous, older husband.From the moment Maria sets eyes on Sherwood Stafford, a distinguished New Yorker who has just moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina, she dreams of becoming his wife. Maria wants a home of her own, complete with servants, cook, and personal seamstress. The local fortuneteller predicts the two will wed.Their storybook wedding and fashionable honeymoon provide brief happiness for Maria. She is disappointed in her marriage and disgusted with her hypochondriac husband. Eyes of envious women are on her as she proudly strolls the streets of Fayetteville in all her finery. Note is taken of her daily visits to the fortuneteller and clandestine meetings with an old beau. When Sherwood Stafford falls ill and dies, townsfolk whisper that his wife killed him. A bench warrant for Maria’s arrest is issued. What follows is an adventure that takes the reader aboard a ship bound for Cuba with a side trip to the low country of Charleston, South Carolina. “I tried to stay true to history and to the actual murder trial,” said the author, “but I did delve more into the life of the actual fortuneteller and other interesting characters, such as the household slaves, a free mulatto, and a pirate turned sailor.”Pillow of Thorns is a page-turning novel that will keep the reader wondering, right up to the end, if Maria is guilty or innocent of the crime for which she is accused.

Pillow of Thorns

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Smith, Karen Cecil

Mystery

Argus Enterprises International, Incorporated

Mountain midwife Orlean Puckett endured many trials during her lifetime. A bride at the age of 16, she had given birth to and buried 24 babies by the time she was in her mid-thirties. When John Puckett, her husband, deserted the Civil War, Orlean was besieged by Home Guard Troops. Still, she secretly carried food to John and others who hid out near her home. Orlean became a midwife when she was 45 years of age. During the next 49 years, she successfully delivered over a thousand babies. Traveling on foot or by horse, Orlean never failed to make her way to a birthing. When ice covered the mountain paths, she hammered nails into the soles of her shoes to assure proper footing. A year after Orlean “caught” her last baby, construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway forced her from her home. Three weeks later, at the age of 95, she died. A marker honoring the life of this remarkable woman now stands at Milepost 189.9 along Virginia’s Blue Ridge Parkway. Karen attended Guilford College and holds a BA in English from Salem College. During her last semester at Salem, she became a freelance writer for a local magazine. After graduation, Karen worked as a newspaper reporter, photographer, and editor. Her stories and poetry have been featured in national magazines and literary journals.

Orlean Puckett: The Life of a Mountain Midwife, 1844-1939

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Blair

An Old Salem Christmas, 1840, tells the story of Christmas celebration in historic Salem, North Carolina, as seen through the eyes of a young Moravian girl. Salem was founded in 1766 by the Moravians--a Protestant faith that began in what is now known as the Czech Republic. The historic town is now a living history museum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

An Old Salem Christmas, 1840

Children's Books

Literature & Fiction

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Books by Smith, Karen Cecil