Holly Hollon’s Beautiful Sunflower Sisters Map Brings Jemma’s World Alive

I love Holly’s work so much. She has created maps for Lilac Girls and Lost Roses and this is her final one, for Sunflower Sisters, the last book about the Woolsey-Ferriday family. Since the book is not out yet–the pub date is March 30th– here’s a bit of context. There are three main characters: Georgeanna Woolsey, Caroline Ferriday’s great aunt, who aspired to being a nurse during the Civil War, wealthy Anne-May Watson, owner of Peeler Plantation, and Jemma, an enslaved young woman who suffers unimaginably at the hands of Anne-May and her overseer.

The map shows Jemma’s world–Peeler Plantation, based on the actual Sotterley Plantation, located in Hollywood, Maryland, a former tobacco plantation now a museum. It features Anne-May’s house, the cabin where Jemma and her family live, and several of the outbuildings like the smoke house where important scenes in the book take place. The fictitious Ambrosia Plantation next door is where Jemma’s twin sister Patience is enslaved, harvesting indigo.

It’s the end of an era but I hope it provides a sense of place for when you’re reading the book, a little sneak peek into Jemma’s life at the fictional Peeler Plantation.