The Tillie Marshall Letters
When unthinkable calamity strikes, true courage is found Above the Water.
The year is 1900, and eighteen-year-old Tillie Marshall has just moved with her family to Houston, Texas, chasing the promise of newly discovered oil.
Tillie’s letters to her cousin Louise back in Virginia are filled with vivid descriptions of society life in a turn-of-the-century boomtown.
Meanwhile, Louise grapples with a growing sense of social injustice back home when she meets a group of young girls working in her father’s factory.
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For Tillie, the excitement of a burgeoning family fortune is soon overshadowed by a different kind of power. While visiting a new friend in the thriving city of Galveston, she is trapped as a monster storm sweeps in from the Gulf. The Great Storm—the deadliest natural disaster in American history—slams into the island.
As the catastrophic floodwaters rise and the city is torn apart around her, Tillie must fight for her life. Will she survive the night and make it back home to her family in Houston?
A Note to Parents
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