Bill Miller

5 Out of 5 Stars
By Althea Albritton on May 20, 2014
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Mesmerizing!!!

An amazing story, written and retold in vivid detail by Judge Austin Miller's and his slave, Sophia's great-grandson! It filled me with intense emotions, which many times were also intensely conflicting!! It is a historical story of triumph in so many ways despite conditions and events of the times. It was a page turner that compelled me to keep reading, to not put it down, until the very end! What a fascinating (and many times painful) step back in history .... I am now waiting for the movie to be made!! That would be awesome!
Excellent book that I am recommending to all my friends... and anyone else who will listen! A must read!

Seeds of Magnolia Review
5 OUT of 5 STARS - A historic epic of race relations, genealogy, and the author's great-grandparents, Sen. Austin Miller and Sophia Miller
By Almeda S. Edwards on April 18, 2014
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The unmarried Austin Miller purchased Elizabeth from Mrs. Taylor in N.C. for a housekeeper. Sophia, her young child, hadn't been part of the deal. The late Mr. Taylor was Sophia's father. Mr. Miller was an attorney, state senator and slave owner with thousands of acres in TN and MS. He accepted Sophia into his home with Elizabeth. Sophia often played in the yard with white girls, who taught her to read, an absolute no-no for a slave. Elizabeth admonished Sophia not to forget she was a slave. Sen. Miller built a mansion christened "Magnolia Manor" in 1849, and married Mary Jane McNeal, a widow with two children. As the Civil War descended on the South and Magnolia Manor, Mr. Miller was absent. Four Union Generals, Grant, Logan, McPherson and Sherman commandeered the house for a headquarters, but Mrs. Miller pleaded for the children and her delicate health and was allowed to stay. Her cooperation, courtesy and southern hospitality helped save their lives and the house in Bolivar, TN. It's a good history lesson, I loved it, and I'm re-reading it!

Seeds of Magnolia

KIRKUS REVIEWS

TITLE INFORMATION
Seeds of Magnolia
Miller, Bill
CreateSpace (456 pp.) ok
ISBN: 978-1494938307; February 24, 2014

BOOK REVIEW
In Miller’s debut historical novel set in the years before the Civil War, a Southern family learns to navigate the shifting boundaries of race, love and history.

Austin Miller is a well-to-do slaveholder with thousands of acres to his name and slaves in multiple states. Among them are Elizabeth and her daughter, Sophia, who stay with Austin as he changes residences to keep up with his various pursuits, including politics and a law practice. Household politics takes precedence over national politics, however; although Austin treats his slaves well, he’s marked by biases and paradoxes, as he wonders about slavery’s morality. (The moral questions become more pressing when it’s revealed that Sophia has become pregnant by her owner.) Austin decides, despite his personal convictions, to fight for the South in the Civil War. His wife and slaves remain home at Magnolia Manor, where they later encounter Union generals Ulysses S. Gant and William Tecumseh Sherman; the latter seeks to take over the manor for war housing. What makes this fictionalized account of a 19th-century American family unusual and noteworthy is that it represents the author’s attempt to come to grips with his heritage. In a fascinating personal note, author Miller explains that he’s the great-grandchild of the real-life Austin Miller and Sophia, making this novel a thorough imagining of his family’s past.

By John A. Keaton on March 31, 2014
5 OUT of 5 STARS
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Bill writes about his bi-racial ancestors during a period of time before and after the Civil War. He writes frankly and honestly about difficult time, broken hearts and lives that were the product of that ugly chapter in American history. The book is well written and is intensely interesting. Bill is kinder than most would have been regarding his ancestor. I highly recommend reading the book.

5 OUT of 5 STARS - Real people in a real tme and a real place
By Patricia A. Womack on April 22, 2014
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I want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading “Seeds of Magnolia” by Bill Miller. I was continuously engaged in the characters and their daily routines that were centered in Magnolia Manor. Magnolia Manor appeared to be somewhat of an oasis in the mist of the drought of slavery, which is a drought to the spirit and inalienable rights of a slave. This drought also extended to consume the spirit of the slave owners who also suffered from a cancer of the conscience.

Bill Miller on facebook. https://www.facebook.com/1942BillMiller