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Search - List of Books by Janice Holt Giles

Janice Holt Giles was a Kentucky author who lived near Knifley in Adair County, Kentucky. She was born Janice Meredith Holt on March 28, 1909, in Altus, Arkansas. Her first marriage, to Otto Moore in 1927, ended in divorce in 1939. She met Henry Giles on a 40-hour bus trip in 1943 and married him in 1945. They settled in Henry's native Adair County in 1949 and lived there until Janice's death on June 1, 1979 and Henry's death in 1986.

Giles is noted primarily for her historical novels, set in Kentucky or on the Western frontier. She also wrote contemporary fiction set in the Kentucky hills, as well as autobiographical and nonfiction works, some of them co-authored with Henry. Her works include the Piney Woods trilogy, consisting of The Enduring Hills (1950), Miss Willie (1951), and Tara's Healing (1952), and the Kentucky trilogy, consisting of The Kentuckians (1953), Hannah Fowler (1956), and The Believers (1957). The Janice Holt Giles and Henry Giles Society was established in 1996 to preserve the literary legacy of Janice Holt Giles and Henry Giles and to restore their log home.

Giles's historical fiction works form a worthy study of early American pioneer life in Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico among other states. Her accounts are accurate geographically and historically and are tied together by the fictitious Cooper, Fowler and Cartwright families. Real historical figures from Giles's novels include Ben Logan, Daniel Boone, James Harrod, William Whitley, James Wilkinson, Gen. Matthew Arbuckle, and Sam Houston. She also provides a realistic historical perspective of the relationships between Native Americans, White Settlers and African Americans. The interested reader can gain a solid understanding of the early process of national (USA) expansion by reading the listed volumes in the following order.

Book (approximate period covered; primary geographical settings): The Kentuckians (1775 - 1778; VA, KY, TN), Hannah Fowler (1778 - 1781; KY, TN, OH), The Land Beyond the Mountains (1781 - 1792; KY, PA, IN), The Believers (1795 - 1805; KY), Johnny Osage (1809 - 1815; OK, AR), The Voyage to Santa Fe (1820; OK, TX, NM), Savanna (1829 - 1834; OK, AR), Run Me a River (September 1861; KY, IN).
This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Janice Holt Giles", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
Total Books: 88
40 Acres and No Mule
40 Acres and No Mule (Paperback)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780813108094
ISBN-10: 0813108098
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 4

Act of Contrition
Act of Contrition (Hardcover)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780813121727
ISBN-10: 0813121728
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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Around Our House
Around Our House (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780395126820
ISBN-10: 0395126827
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The Believers
The Believers (Hardcover)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780395077320
ISBN-10: 039507732X
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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The Damned Engineers
The Damned Engineers (Hardcover)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780395077443
ISBN-10: 0395077443
Genre: History
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The Enduring Hills
The Enduring Hills (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780548446362
ISBN-10: 0548446369
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Enduring Hills
Enduring Hills [Large Print] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780816136483
ISBN-10: 0816136483
Genre: Romance
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Forty Acres and No Mule
Forty Acres and No Mule (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780395077368
ISBN-10: 0395077362
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The Great Adventure
The Great Adventure (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780380007271
ISBN-10: 0380007274
Genre: Literature & Fiction
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1

The Great Adventure A Novel
The Great Adventure a Novel (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780395077399
ISBN-10: 0395077397
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Hannah Fowler
Hannah Fowler (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780380017409
ISBN-10: 0380017407
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1

Harbin's Ridge
Harbin's Ridge (Hardcover)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780884116431
ISBN-10: 0884116433
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Hill Man
Hill Man (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780813121659
ISBN-10: 0813121655
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Romance
  • Currently 2.8/5 Stars.
 2

Johnny Osage
Johnny Osage (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780380018109
ISBN-10: 0380018101
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1

Johnny Osage
Johnny Osage [Kentuckians, Bk 5] (Hardcover)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780395077351
ISBN-10: 0395077354
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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The Kentuckians
The Kentuckians (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780380004966
ISBN-10: 0380004968
  • Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
 1

Kentuckians
Kentuckians (Hardcover)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780395077375
ISBN-10: 0395077370
  ?

The Kinta Years
The Kinta Years (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780395140116
ISBN-10: 0395140110
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
 1

The Land Beyond the Mountains
The Land Beyond the Mountains (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780380005932
ISBN-10: 038000593X
Genre: Literature & Fiction
  • Currently 3.2/5 Stars.
 3

Land Beyond the Mountains
Land Beyond the Mountains (Hardcover)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780884116448
ISBN-10: 0884116441
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A Little Better Than Plumb The Biography of a House