It is 1972 and Alicia Talbot, a Vietnam war widow with a two-year-old son, has traveled to the poor, mostly illiterate nation of Botswana to teach English. At the nearby border, civil war roils Rhodesia. Alicia’s remote school harbors a saboteur, someone runs guns to Rhodesian guerrillas, and students sense the rising tension. Alicia falls for a new teacher, Jake Hunter, but just when romance seems possible, the sunbaked Kalahari Desert and guerrilla warfare threaten all she loves.

“Cradle of Lightning has it all: an exotic and exciting setting; deep themes and history; love and danger; and an intelligent, compassionate, and tender protagonist. It stands out for its intelligence and compassion. Smart and fun to read.”
— Sandra Scofield, author of The Last Draft, The Scene Book, and Little Ships

“An uplifting and rollicking story of love and adventure, Cradle of Lightning takes us on the journey of a young American widow transplanted along with her young son to a Botswana school. If lessons ensue, the largest and best is saved for the reader: we are not puppets driven by fate, but agents of our own destiny.”
— Bethany Reid, author of Sparrow, and The Pear Tree: Elegy for a Farm