Gaylier Miller

Cleve Gaylier Miller

CLEVE, a historical novel which begins in the late 19th century American South, and its prequel, WAITING DEER, comprise the first two books of INTERWOVEN. In the first book, Saul McDavid and the Creek Indian, Waiting Deer, first meet a few miles north of Coon Hill in 1867. As CLEVE begins, the reader encounters Cleveland McMillan in 1884 on a train a few hours following his flight from his home in Coon Hill. In Book one, the principal struggle stems from the clash of three races as they attempt to blend into the fabric of the community. Before community, however, is the individual. Race, culture, community standing--Cleve McMillan was not concerned with these matters. As he reaches his 21st birthday, his struggle is personal. He felt that he should be content with his life, but he definitely does not feel content. It seems he should be, but Cleve does not "know seems." Therefore, despite all the reasons he should stay home, he cannot do so. During the next several years, as he finds his own place in the pattern, he also finds answers to questions which had haunted him since childhood, problems which had alienated him from from his only known living relative. Ultimately, the two books are interwoven, not only by time and place and by marriage, but also in ways which most people may never know. Finally, the stories converge in 1946 at Coon Hill Cemetery, Santa Rosa County, Florida.