Charlotte's Favorite Bookstore

Born in 1919, Gil Ballance is a retired teacher (Central & Garringer High Schools) and long-time Charlotte resident. He knows a great deal about southern history not just from studying it, but from living it. His father was 13 when the Civil War began. Gil was the last of fourteen children and the first to go to college. Leah's Journey Home is his first novel. It was inspired by his mother's life.

Witnessing a violent shipwreck during a savage storm on North Carolina’s Outer Banks in 1899, 20-year-old Leah, unmarried and pregnant, kneels in the sand and prays that her destiny will not be like the ship’s: that she and her baby will survive in a world which has no tolerance for unmarried mothers. Leah’s faith, which she learned from a beloved aunt, will sustain her through many coming storms.

Praise for the book: "This uplifting, suspenseful, coastal Carolina tale of young Leah's dramatic journey from despair to joy is richly told . . . A remarkable story of feminine awakening to love and to backcountry advocacy for schools, birth control, and mentoring. Leah will capture your heart." Mary Kratt, author of New South Women, Southern Is . . . and Valley.