Dona Rose Willis’s life on a vast West Texas ranch in 1938 is shaped by hard work, a starkly beautiful landscape, and a loveless marriage. Everything shifts when her orphaned niece, Annalou, arrives, and Samuel Washington, a Black man, seeks refuge from a lynch mob, thrusting Dona into a dangerous fight against brutal prejudices.
A powerful and timely tale of historic fiction, Thorns of the Mesquite paints a stirring portrait of a woman’s awakening — of love and the resilient spirit demanded to fight for what’s right against staggering odds.
