A beautiful young servant is condemned to death for a crime that she swears she did not commit. Inspired by true events in 1750s Connecticut, Gallows Road takes readers on a harrowing journey of love, betrayal, and injustice. Chafing against the strict confines of her life as an indentured servant, Mercy Bramble finds herself in a destructive relationship with her master, leading to her pregnancy. The mysterious death of her newborn puts Mercy's life in the hands of a jury, while three clergymen fight to save her soul. Raising issues of patriarchy, literacy, religious dogmatism, and capital punishment, Gallows Road builds to a climax that Kirkus Reviews calls "a nail-biter all the way." Indentured servants - white or Native American men and women who often worked alongside black slaves - were forbidden to marry during the seven years they were bonded to service. Illegitimate births were common, and unwed mothers faced heavy fines and extended servitude. Set in a multiracial household in colonial New England, Gallows Road sheds light on an often-forgotten chapter in America's past. "A well-crafted, emotionally satisfying historical novel." — Kirkus Reviews "Traversing the same rocky footpaths as Nathaniel Hawthorne's quintessential New England novel, The Scarlet Letter, Lisa Hall Brownell's Gallows Road tells an eighteenth-century story of love, sex, heartache, and hypocrisy. Yet Brownell's Mercy Bramble is no opaque and respectful Hester Prynne. Mercy is a feisty, unschooled, and outspoken heroine who challenges the morals and mores of the staid, self-satisfied community that seeks to victimize her. I felt a near-magnetic pull into the pages of this humane, character-driven novel. I suspect you will, too." — Wally Lamb, author of six N.Y. Times best-selling novels including I Know This Much Is True and She's Come Undone "This novel brings to life a woman who in history had no voice: here named Mercy Bramble, an uneducated servant accused of murder. Brownell's beautiful writing drew me in immediately. I cared about Mercy from the first page. — Christine Woodside, author of Libertarians on the Prairie and editor of the journal, Appalachia " Gallows Road is a keenly-felt and master-crafted work of fiction. Brownell combines research and literary invention in a story worth telling and well-worth reading." — Susan Kietzman, author of The Good Life and The Summer Cottage "The author reveals with great clarity the conditions of the time, especially for servants and slaves. ... Her theme focuses on the early life and character of Mercy Bramble, making this a character-driven novel, and one that draws the reader to feel great empathy for Mercy. The sense of place is strong throughout the story; one senses the author's extensive knowledge and keen perception of the nuances of 18th-century Connecticut." — The Historical Novels Review LISA HALL BROWNELL, a fiction writer and editor, believes that stories have the power to connect one person to another, and past to present. She graduated from Brown University, and earned an M.A. in English with a concentration in creative writing from San Francisco State University. Now a freelance writer, she lives in southeastern Connecticut. She has written two novels, as well as several screenplays and short stories. A former media director for Mystic Seaport Museum and director of publications for Connecticut College, Brownell edited and wrote for an award-winning magazine with 30,000 readers. A member of the Mystic Writers, she recently helped to launch the group's website and blog. https: //mysticwriters.org