When the Jessamine Grows

When the Jessamine Grows (2024) is a historical fiction novel written by Donna Everhart and published by Kensington Publishing Corp. The novel follows an anti-war North Carolina farm woman named Joetta McBride whose 15-year-old son, Henry, volunteers with the Confederate Army to fight in the Civil War. Joetta’s neutrality in the war and desire to help Union and Confederate soldiers put her and her family’s lives at risk. The novel explores the themes of The Moral and Social Implications of Neutrality in Conflict, The Impact of War on Families, and Resilience and the Drive for Survival. Everhart is a prolific Southern historical fiction writer who has written other novels centered around Southern United States history, including The Education of Dixie Dupree (2016), The Moonshiner’s Daughter (2019), The Forgiving Kind (2019), and The Saints of Swallow Hill (2022). The title refers to the jessamine flower, which Everhart associates with resilience.

This study guide uses the 2024 Kensington Books paperback edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this study guide contain descriptions of pregnancy loss, enslavement, and anti-Black racism. The source material also contains racist language.

Plot Summary

Thirty-four-year-old Joetta McBride lives on a farm outside Whitakers, North Carolina, in 1861 with her husband Ennis, their two sons—15-year-old Henry and 11-year-old Robert—and Ennis’s father, Mr. Rudean McBride. The Civil War is raging in the country, but North Carolina remains a border state. Rudean McBride is pro-Confederate and glorifies war in front of his grandsons. Joetta and Ennis, who are neutral and wish to live simple, peaceful lives on the farm, are concerned about his father’s influence on the boys, particularly Henry. Ennis initially tells her not to worry. However, Henry becomes more dismissive of his parents’ neutrality and wishes to volunteer with the Confederates, wearing a cockade he bought after learning that North Carolina joined the Confederacy. Ennis forcibly removes it, leading to a physical confrontation between father and son. Henry isolates himself from the family outside for the next few days, with Robert keeping him company at night. Henry talks to men going to Raleigh, North Carolina, to volunteer. Later, Robert reveals that he left to volunteer for the Confederate Army in Raleigh. Though Joetta urges Ennis to go after him, he says Henry needs to accept the consequences of his actions. Bess Caldwell and Mary Brown, two friends with differing views on the war, visit Joetta. Bess is pro-Confederate, with her oldest son Benjamin also volunteering, while Mary and her husband Hugh are neutral. After 10 days, Ennis leaves to find Henry.

Joetta tries to work in the fields with Robert. The family goes to church, where Preacher Rouse preaches about reliability and announces the names of the boys and men who have volunteered. When he says Henry and Ennis’s names, Joetta protests that Ennis did not volunteer but went to bring Henry home. The congregants stare judgmentally, and Robert and Rudean criticize her for openly opposing war. Ennis writes that he had to volunteer to look for Henry. When Joetta rejects an offer to join a Confederate sewing group, Bess doubts her loyalties, but Mary tells Joetta that she respects her bravery. Joetta offers water to passing Union soldiers, defying Rudean’s wishes. Angered, Rudean informs men in town, who retaliate by trampling Joetta’s crops. Robert and Rudean convince Joetta to pretend to be pro-Confederacy for the family’s safety. However, Joetta cannot hide her disdain for the women’s blatant racism. Near Thanksgiving, she receives three letters from Ennis. Then, she sees Robert in a crowd shouting that he will shoot any Union soldiers he sees. When Joetta takes him home, a man in a green coat runs them off the road and then follows them home. Joetta leaves the sewing group, and she and Bess agree not to visit anymore. Joetta’s relationship with Robert sours. When Joetta visits Mary, Rudean, the Caldwells, and a man arrive with a casket. They claim Ennis died.

Ennis’s death sends Joetta into a month-long depression. Robert leaves to stay with the Caldwells. In August, she unsuccessfully tries to convince Robert to return. She continues working in the fields. In 1863, she hears a sound from the springhouse and investigates with her musket. She finds a young boy in a Union uniform, who introduces himself as Charlie Hastings from Virginia. She destroys his uniform and makes him bathe. Rudean and Robert arrive; Rudean convinced Robert to return to keep Joetta from giving up on life. Robert is initially jealous and suspicious of Charlie but helps him escape when Confederate soldiers come searching. The men make camp, taking the pig Robert killed for food. Joetta tells her family that she cares for Charlie and wants to help people. Rudean accepts Charlie after learning that he was orphaned when his mother was killed for helping a Confederate soldier. Mary brings them food, and Joetta learns that Bess’s husband, Thomas, was the man who ran her and Robert off the road. While in town, Joetta is forced to hide when Confederate Miller comes searching for her. She escapes to Mary’s house and thanks her before witnessing Hugh leave the barn. After Christmas, Rudean has Joetta and the boys leave for her parents’ house.

Charlie disappears on the journey to Joetta’s parents’ house. They return to the farm, where they see the house and part of Rudean’s cabin destroyed by fire. Rudean has them hide in his cabin, and visitors believe Joetta and Robert are dead. Through the winter, someone leaves them dead animals for food. During the spring, Joetta is getting a chicken and is seen by Miller. He grabs her and Rudean, who has fallen ill with tuberculosis is unable to help her as is Robert. Just as Miller is about to kill Joetta, Charlie reappears and shoots him, admitting he has been secretly leaving food, wanting to help without causing more trouble. Before succumbing to his illness, Rudean reveals his late wife had a vegetable garden. After burying him, Robert reveals that he said he regretted glorifying war to the boys. The garden and the boys’ hunting skills help the three survive. In 1865, Mary visits with flowers and shares the news that the Union has won the war. She has Joetta and the boys stay with her and Hugh. Hugh and the boys repair the cabin, and the family moves back in. Later, a man arrives and Joetta realizes it is Ennis. Ennis reveals he was in a Union prison, and they soon settle into life again. The family settles back into their life, but Ennis wants to move west. Joetta agrees, and in the spring of 1866, they leave for Texas.