Roses by Leila Meacham

Billed as the next Gone With The Wind, Roses is an epic family saga set in East Texas. It centers around Mary Toliver, who inherits her family's cotton plantation at the age of 16. Passionate and hard-headed, Mary devotes her life and energies to the land, even forsaking the great love of her life to save the plantation. The first part of the book is told from Mary's point of view. In the second section, we hear the story from the point of view of Percy Warwick, the man who loved Mary but didn't marry her. The final section is about Rachel, Mary's great-niece, who expects to take over the family farms after Mary. I wouldn't put Roses up there with GWTW, but it's a mighty good read. If you like old fashioned family sagas, you'll enjoy this book.