The Cherokee Rose

by Tiya Miles

Three women uncover the secrets of a Georgia plantation that embodies the intertwined histories of Indigenous and enslaved Black communities—the fascinating debut novel, inspired by a true story, of the National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of All That She Carried , now featuring a new introduction.

“ The Cherokee Rose is a mic drop—an instant classic. An invitation to listen to the urgent, sweet choruses of past and present.”—Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, author of The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST

Conducting research for her weekly history column, Jinx, a free-spirited Muscogee (Creek) historian, travels to Hold House, a Georgia plantation originally owned by Cherokee chief James Hold, to uncover the mystery of what happened to a tribal member who stayed behind after Indian removal, when Native Americans were forcibly displaced from their ancestral homelands in the nineteenth century.

At Hold House, she meets Ruth, a magazine writer visiting on assignment, and Cheyenne, a Southern Black debutante seeking to purchase the estate. Hovering above them all is the spirit of Mary Ann Battis, the young Indigenous woman who remained in Georgia more than a century earlier. When they discover a diary left on the property that reveals even more about the house’s dark history, the three women’s connections to the place grow deeper. Over a long holiday weekend, Cheyenne is forced to reconsider the property’s rightful ownership, Jinx reexamines assumptions about her tribe’s racial history, and Ruth confronts her own family’s past traumas before surprising herself by falling into a new romance.

Imbued with a nuanced understanding of history, The Cherokee Rose brings the past to life as Jinx, Ruth, and Cheyenne unravel mysteries with powerful consequences for them all.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Indigenous, Queer, Native American, LGBT

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2015

About the author

Tiya Miles is from Ohio, "the heart of it all," though now she spends summers in her husband's native Montana. She is the author of All That She Carried (which won a National Book Award for nonfiction and more), and of three prize-winning works of history on the intersections of African American and Native American experience. Her forthcoming book, Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People, will be out in June 2024, right on the heels of her short but sweet exploration of childhoods in nature: Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation (September 2024). Her debut dual time period (historical-contemporary) novel based on her early career research, The Cherokee Rose: A Novel of Gardens and Ghosts, was revised with new scenes and released as a paperback original by Random House in June 2023; check out the new version! She has also published a study of haunted plantations and manor homes in the South that reads like a travel narrative. (And she is as surprised as you are that two of her books focus on ghosts!) Her newest book, just out from W. W. Norton, is Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation. Tiya's favorite activities are reading good books while her three teenaged kids write stories together in the background, spending time in old houses, walking along forest trails, and drinking hot chocolate. She is currently working on a history, a novel, and essays about climate change and historic sites. Check out her Substack: Carrying Capacity, for news and updates! https://tiyamiles.substack.com/

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author's debut novel, The Cherokee Rose surrounds a Georgia plantation and the three women who find themselves drawn into its connection to the history of Native American slaveholders. The novel was originally published in 2015 but the one I am reviewing today is the revised and edited edition.

Positives:
-The amount of research that went into this novel is explained in both the preface at the beginning and all the resources and interviews listed at the back. As a newbie to this topic, I appreciated the thorough explanations.

- Three strong female protagonists-Jinx, Cherokee and Ruth

- A mature lesbian romance that was a story element and not the whole focus of the story. Honestly, I am just relieved that any romance didn't take away from the historical portion of the story.

-Tiya Miles doesn't shy away or try to paint a rosy picture of what life was like on the plantation.

- I know a lot of other reviewers didn't like the journal entries that took over the novel. I did love them but yeah, maybe they could have been spaced out in the novel. ( I guess this is more a positive/negative)


Negatives:

-It was a little difficult to get into. A lot of starts and stops before I was immersed. The story does improve in the middle of the book though.

- I didn't feel like the male characters were written as well as the female characters.

- I rate it as a two-star because even though the history was so interesting, I don't think this is one of those books that is going to stick out for me on December 31st(end-of-year reviews).


Overall, I do believe it is a good book in introducing myself to a little addressed discussion in history but I think it would be a topic to further understand by reading some nonfiction.



Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

#TheCherokeeRose #NetGalley.
Publication Date 13/06/23
Goodreads Review 19/06/23

[Susannah Sanford mcdaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subject is amazing. No one writes about Native American and enslaved people's relationships in plantation days. The story is a little cliche, but alright. The writing style...not my favorite. The author is a history professor and her research and knowledge are clearly impressive. The writing style, particularly the dialog, leave a little to be desired, but for the subject matter...I mostly recommend. As long as you know what you're getting into.

[Rachel Wexelbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books where people try to uncover the mysteries of their ancestry and heritage, and find the answers where they are least expected.

Tiya Miles is an African-American Cherokee scholar who has previously written two non-fiction books about relations between Cherokee and African-Americans in the South. Even without knowing this, her novel rings true--you can feel that she has been to the places that she paints in this story, and that she has taken it in with all five senses. While her background is academic, Miles writes well-paced, lively fiction chock full of rich, complex characters. This is one of those books that someone should turn into a film.

Also, spoiler--the main character is--ta da--a lesbian, and a flirtation and romance develops between her and one other of the main female characters. Is this important to the book? Yes it is, otherwise the author would not have written these characters so. Did it get mentioned in the blurb or the LC subject headings for the book? Once again, no. In any case, I will find out if this book has been reviewed yet by Lambda Literary Foundation and ask if I can put in a plug for it. It is definitely a novel to celebrate, on many levels.

[Sassafras Patterdale · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solidly 2 star book, but an extra star because the concept was really interesting and compelling. the story fell apart for me as the author tried to weave together the past (diary entries) and the present day experience of 3 very different women. It felt heavy handed and awkward as the story edged between past and present, and I didn't find there to be enough character development for any of the women.

[johnny ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

this novel was incredibly well researched. that being said, it reads more like a history textbook than a historical fiction novel. i felt the indigenous character was very flat and one dimensional. while this makes for an interesting read, and i appreciated that the author updated her original text, i did not feel any emotion from the characters. it was all pretty factual.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

[etherealfire · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
sound historical info; story-telling a little lacking

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite magical realism, and not quite historical fiction, The Cherokee Rose is a fascinating novel about conflicting expectations at a historic Georgia plantation. It does read like a novel written by a historian, which I enjoyed most of the time; I was most impressed by the very real, flawed characters Miles pulls together. Between her warm writing style - Miles seems to admire all of her characters, even when they despise and judge each other - and the whirlwind events (ghosts! rediscovered artifacts! decapitated azaleas!), it's easy to cheer for everyone to grow up a little and work together to solve the plantation's key mystery. And it's awesome to have queer, person-of-color protagonists to cheer for in historic fiction! Miles is writing about the Cherokee-owned slave plantations, just prior to the Georgia Gold Rush and the Indian Removal Act, and she doesn't shy away from addressing the racist and economic circumstances of those events. Her characters are living with the consequences - cloudy genealogical records, conflicts of identity, missing memberships and tribal recognition, and even hate-based arson. Well-recommended!

[Bobbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Such an interesting premise and with so much actual history to use. Yet the lack of real character development, the slick varnish of a romance novel and poor editing that misses many grating,distracting details (eg. azaleas blooming in September) made me impatient and dissatisfied with the book. Ultimately, it trivializes what could have been a profoundly interesting historical fiction.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am rounding this up to a 5--probably 4 and a half for me.
A minority of Cherokee owned African slaves prior to the Civil War; this novel is built around that little known fact, and the author a historian, has done extensive research on the topic, and has also written a non-fiction book on that subject. This book alternates between present time, with three women who are brought together on the grounds of a former plantation in Georgia which was once owned by a wealthy Cherokee landowner, and the early 1800's, prior to the Indian Removal, also known as The Trail of Tears. The present day characters were not nearly as engaging as those from the past, whose story is told through a diary found in an old cabin on the estate.
Many of the characters and events are based on actual people and things that happened that the author has uncovered in her research; I really enjoyed a short piece at the end of the book where the author rolls out the historical links to her novel.

[Phyllis | Mocha Drop · Rating 4 out of 5]

The past and the present merge on a Georgia plantation (Hold House) when a historian, writer, and a potential buyer discover a diary that reveals more than any of them imagined. Written in alternating eras, we learn that the House once belonged to a Cherokee and we learn that the Cherokees once owned and had relations with enslaved Africans. The beauty of the novel is it is inspired by actual events as mentioned in the Author’s Notes.

The author has researched thoroughly and presents complex issues with graceful sensitivity and compassion. Layered in lore, the interwoven ancestry between the characters reflects the “mixing pot” of the American identity and all the cultural nuances it brings.

Recommended for American history lovers.

Thanks to the publisher, Random House Publishing, and NetGalley for an opportunity to review.

[Lois · Rating 2 out of 5]

The topic is most interesting: Native American slaveowners of African-Americans, set in the southeast, predominately Georgia. However, the depiction suffers as a superficial portrayal of the protagonists and antagonists. There is almost no character development; the characters serve mainly to differentiate among various types of each ethnic group and there is little tension carried throughout the story. The author has obviously researched the subject well and as a MacArthur fellow is certainly qualified but perhaps non-fiction would be a better vehicle.

[Natalie Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House of an ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book is based on facts but is put into a fictionalized form so the author can have liberties to tell this story. The author is an academic and used her research to provide the structure for this story of the intertwined history of Indigenous and enslaved Blacks. Jinx is a Creek historian who visits Hold House in Georgia, originally owned by James Hold, to find out what happened during Indian removal. She then meets Ruth who is a writer of Black and White ancestry and Cheyenne who is from a wealthy Black family and interested in buying Hold House (with her parents' money). They discover a diary which leads them on a discovery of the history of the house which reflects the history of this area and people. This was interesting to learn more about the complex history of Indigenous and enslaved Blacks.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book sounded really interesting. However it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Parts of it was really good but others not so much.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

[Alexandra Nova · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this story. I was looking for an Afro-indigenous story to dip my toes into the history. Was it a bit cheesy? Yes, but I was totally here for it.
I listened on audible and the readers voice was fine. I think the author should’ve read it! I appreciated the book more after listening to the epilogue and authors note at the end. I enjoyed hearing about the research and true elements behind the story.

[Drucilla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2.5 stars. This book shines a light on a bit of history that really isn't widely known and it does a decent job of presenting it in a fictionalized way. However, the book has a number of issues, mostly stemming from structural problems. Its short length prevents characters from getting full-length arcs and instead shoves character development (in some cases, major life epiphanies) into just a few pages. When approximately 70-ish pages of your book are the characters reading diary entries, you can't do that. This is the author's first fiction work and it shows. Her previous non-fiction works on Cherokee and African-American history demonstrate her knowledge on the subject and it's well documented here as well. But (besides the diary) there are so many historical expositional dumps. The information is fascinating, but frequently distracts from the story she's trying to tell.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fictionalized version of her research into slave-holding Cherokees in Georgia, with a decidedly feminist slant to a little-known historical oddity. In spite of having a reputedly Cherokee ancestor and lots of "cousins" who married into Oklahoma Indian families, and in spite of having read Thirteen Moons, Charles Frazier's novel about Colonel Thomas and the North Carolina Cherokee plantations, I was unaware that some wealthy native Americans took black slaves with them on the Trail of Tears, or that people with both black and Cherokee ancestry were listed as Freedmen on the Dawes Rolls instead of Cherokee by Birth, and thus often regarded as not full members of the tribe. I think I would have preferred the scholarly historical version of this without the imaginary modern-day characters, however.

[Susan Elizabetha · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a superlative historical fiction based on John Vann of the Cherokee Nation in Georgia. The characters Jinx, Ruth, Adam Battis, Cheyenne were well developed in my opinion and came alive as I read this story. As well as the characters who represented historical people. Well done novel of historical fiction.

The history of the Cherokee Nation speak to the pointless efforts of assimilation of native people. And the the forced removal of the tribe to the Oklahoma territory.

Topics interesting to me included genealogy, the gardens and medicinal plants, and the architecture and furniture of the era.

[J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the mystical nature of the book, from the very real present to the parts of history I didn't know...until I read Tiya Miles marvelous book. If you love Southern fiction, learning about little known (or rather talked about) parts of history, this wonderful novel is for you.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would find this a more interesting read as non fiction since the characters are...eh. They really serve only for the purpose of telling history.

[Dana K · Rating 3 out of 5]

{3.5 stars}

Thanks to Random House for gifted access via NetGalley. All opinions below are my own.

This one unfortunately sat in my Netgalley for a long time and I apologize for that. I think some of the reviews may have kept me from reading it even though the synopsis was really interesting to me. The story is written by a scholar and lots of the reviews felt the earlier version of this book was a little too like a textbook. I can comfortably say that the version I read was much more like proper historical fiction, with the exception of the diary entries which felt a lot like info dumping. In the story, three women chase their shared roots at an old plantation home in Georgia. Each has their own motivations but the history of the Cherokee people and the local mission as well as enslaved ancestors drive them looking for the truth of their histories. 

Each of the three women were interesting and unique and I was definitely bought into each of their stories as well as the local townsfolk. The thing that I found really interesting was how amidst a story where they are experiencing so much active racism both in present time and in the diary of the ancestor they find, they still snipe a bit at each other for not being enough of this or that. It took til the very end for them to focus more on the things that should have been bringing them together.

[Melinda Kline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the telling of this story. Being Cherokee, it is a dark part of our history that some Cherokee people became slave owners. I enjoyed the author’s telling of this history through modern day actions of individuals looking for their own stories and history while uncovering facts and love in their lives. I really want to visit the Vann plantation in Georgia (adding this to my bucket list) and read more of her books!

[Lorene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in a weekend. I loved it. The history of our country can be difficult to read, but that's why we must read it. I love books with strong female characters. This story made me want to learn more about the plantation on which Hold House is based.

[Elizabeth Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating exploration of the intersection of Black, American Indian, and White lives in the 1800s and in the present day. I didn't find the journal very convincing; the details recorded were just so convenient for the modern reader(s)!

[Lina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to read for a class but this was such a wonderful read the pacing and story is captivating and the characters are written well!

[Cara Schwartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Marilyn Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cherokee Rose

Great read with a ghostly vibe & historical background. Somewhat predictable in characters final roles - but still quite enjoyable.

[L. Cherelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel conjured memories that sat dormant for many years, as well as mentions of Indian roots from my relatives through the years. Why do we, a poor family from the rural South with sharecropping roots, have an affinity for Indian foremothers and forefathers we cannot name, but little pride for the ancestors who survived the middle passage and were stripped from their native lands?

I don’t ride the fence with my racial identity, and neither do many of the main characters in this novel. The paths of protagonists Jennifer “Jinx” Micco, Cheyenne Cotterell, and Ruth Mayes intertwined during their searches for truth, riches, and adventure, leading them to the Chief James Hold plantation in North Georgia’s Blue Ridge territory, once the heart of the Cherokee nation.

Part I of the novel (Our Mothers’ Gardens) opens in 2008 with Jinx, a Muscogee (Creek) Nation historian, columnist, and part-time librarian. Jinx penned a story in her local tribal newspaper about Mary Ann Battis, a mixed-race Creek educated by Christian missionaries.

Jinx takes pride in her research skills. As noted in the story, “she [doesn’t] deal in sanitized history.” Her friend Deb, however, feels that Jinx’s article was shortsighted in her interpretation of Mary Ann’s motivations and loyalties. Deb asks Jinx to travel to Georgia to kill two birds with one stone: to find out more about Mary Ann Battis— a member of their tribe— and to possibly retrieve historical tribal documents from the Hold House.

This is when Jinx meets Cheyenne, a proud debutante from Atlanta who is determined to win the historic Hold House (the plantation manor and a former museum) at auction. Cheyenne is shallow and self-absorbed in many regards, yet astute in her dealing and aspiration for the property.

Ruth, a magazine writer, is sorely unaware of what lies ahead when she jumps into her car and travels to Georgia to kill time and write an article about the Hold House. Once these women are brought together under one roof, mysteries, revelations, and romance unfold in both practical and supernatural ways—which leads to Part II of the story (Talking Leaves).

Here, Miles uses historical figures to weave fact with fiction and infuse readers with the beauties and horrors of the Hold Plantation and the cross-cultural bonds of women living in early 19th century Cherokee country. This part of the story is told through the diary of Anna Gamble, a Moravian missionary sent to the plantation to lead multi-race and Indian heathens to Christ.

Anna reveals that James Hold, the richest and most influential Cherokee chief, was a cruel man who committed atrocities that provoked revenge and murder— a man whose evils against his slaves and wives created a plantation that “was obsessed with emotions of the past.”

By Part III (The Three Sisters), readers will appreciate the multiple layers that illustrate the relationships between Cherokees, free Blacks, missionaries, and slaves— and the influences of Cherokee slaveholding, religion, racism, U.S. and tribal governments, colonization, and capitalism. And when all of this is mixed together, we are reminded that the present can never be unraveled from the past, no matter how much falsification has taken place.

There are a lot of characters to keep up with throughout the novel. (I haven’t mentioned the supporting characters; some help drive the plot). And, a large portion of Part III felt romanticized to me because the characters’ lives (both past and present) wrapped up nicely—as if the writing recipe couldn’t be muddied a bit. Here, I have to note that the author is a historian. But, to me, the facts drove the fiction, which makes chunks of the fiction feel excessive.

Also, Miles could have used Part III to complete initial aspects of the story. For example:

- Deb and the tribal community’s reaction upon learning the full history of Mary Ann Battis.
- Cheyenne—the character who experienced the greatest transformation—could have had more weight beyond being a vessel for the past, and her transformation could have been mirrored in her personal life (i.e., her family and friends).
- Address the multiple acts of vandalism that occurred at the manor.

The African diaspora and Native Americans share a long and painful past, and Miles uses the convergence of Jinx, Cheyenne, and Ruth to convey one thread of 19th century American history. "The Cherokee Rose" pays homage to the spirituality, resiliency, and legacy of both African and aboriginal women— a legacy that Black women should not abuse today to lay claims to their “baby hair” or colorful genealogies.

Overall, "The Cherokee Rose" is a hard-hitting cultural lesson that will linger in my character repository and digital bookshelf for years to come.

[Review originally posted at the Black Lesbian Literary Collective]

~Review originally posted at the Black Lesbian Literary Collective

[Emma Jean Rooney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate to say this because I really like Tiya Miles nonfiction books, and this book was full of really interesting history, but the writing was … not good

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical fiction at it's finest. I learned so much about the overlap between indigenous folks and enslaved persons and I was vested in the fates of Jinx, Cheyenne and Ruth. The author did an excellent job of weaving present and past together and I do so love a good ghost story.

[Sara Weather · Rating 2 out of 5]

#100

The Good

I. I appreciate the books and articles put at back of this book I want to read them.
II. Historical fiction portions were my favorite parts of the novel (midkey think that this story would have been improved by being purely historical fiction)
III. It did make me think about plantations, history between Native Americans & Black Americans & complexities, quiet activism, conceptualizing history, and more.

The Bad

I. Characterization lacking

A. Kept mistaking characters for each other because they do not have a strong voice as people.

B. Characters were mouthpieces for history, and it felt at times the history was random/not interesting/we already know this.

C. They felt like they were plucked out of 90s Black contemporary novels without change to accommodate this story.

II. Writing

A. Personally, felt that the story did not go hard as it could have looking at the premise: Why are we focusing on this? Why is the characterization like this?

I guess I just feel it was a missed opportunity with the story that this is.

B. Writing did not fit the story that was being told.

C. It felt like author was adding stuff as the story was going along instead of it feeling craftily done.

D. It retraced many of what other stories about Black American experiences did.

Thoughts

I. My Personal Recommendation of novels/nonfiction

Darkly by Leila Taylor – nonfiction

Conjure Women by Afia Atakora- historical fiction, adult

Deathless Divide – ya, historical fiction, fantasy/science fiction (did not read Dread Nation but it is not lost on me that I am recommending the second in a series that was critiqued for its portrayal of Native Americans)


II. Makes me want to research plantations, flowers, memory gardens, Vann plantation, all nonfiction Tiya Miles wrote, all books that the author mentioned.


III. Different relations/concepts of legacy with land between different races


IV. Is the message dated or too simple? Does the story improve by a discussion/class setting?


V. What should we do with a plantation? Is it offensive to turn it into a bed & breakfast? Should we destroy them all? Should/can we give them back to descendants of those who were enslaved on the land?


VI. It was published in 2015 but written (if I am not mistaken in 90s/early 2000s) I think that shaped many of things (good and bad) – Does the messages feel done before because this is from 2015 (when this could have been more progressive)? If this was written and published later what would the story look like? What is the reaction between those who read the story in 2015 vs 2023?


VII. How do folks feel about the Christian aspect?


VIII. Quiet Social justice

A. While reading this book I viewed a reading sprint where the two hosts talked about (starting at 1:34:39: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ntrnvrS... ) Black folks looking back negatively on their ancestors. It made me conceptualize my thoughts alongside the book about how so much social justice by Black Americans was/is quiet out of survival. How much can we judge what our ancestors did when so much of what they did was/is lost to time because of it needing to be a secret?

C. All the quiet histories in a Black family line.


IX. Humanizing history -Need for heroes/villains in history without context to time or what a person was experiencing.

X. Ghosts

A. I really had it in my mind that this story was going to be a legit thriller/horror ghost haunting revenge novel vs historical fiction/contemporary slight ghost story. In my expectations the revenge was going to be towards Native Americans and white people who enslaved the Black folks which would bring discourse towards relations between these groups.

B. Ghost stories: Lovecraft Country, The Cherokee Rose, etc. Is the ghosts goal revenge? What is their motive? Why are they haunting/existing on the land still? Are they stuck? what is the authorial intent with the ghosts?

I won this in a giveaway from Random House Book Club via goodreads