Tom Lewis. Zena’s Law. New Bern, NC: McBryde Publishing, 2009.

Zena Carraway has every reason to question her decision to move to the little town of Tryon’s Cove.   The single mother of two, a nurse, moved to this coastal North Carolina town to work for Dr. Jim O’Brien, a general practitioner and town native.  Dr. O’Brien has lived elsewhere, so he brought new ideas with him when he moved back to Tryon’s Cove, but he knows how to gently work those ideas into the mix without upsetting people.  Not so Zena.  Her involvement in the PTA and Little League causes people to resent her and when she rebuffs some of the men in town, she makes a few very dangerous enemies.  Jim tries to protect her, but after she experiences violence and intimidation once too often, Zena takes matters into her own hands.  This novel portrays small town life in an unflattering way that leaves the reader wondering how much the twenty-first century South is like earlier, unhappy times.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.