Books

Creative Nonfiction

Bitter Thaw

“Memorable… vibrant imagery… well-honed characters with intricate thoughts and emotions. McCann treats important topics, including discrimination, racism, and sexism, with grace and a gentle spirit.”

~ The BookLife Prize

“…an engrossing family drama. …rich historical context.”

~ Publisher’s Weekly

2023 Shelf Unbound Magazine Indie Book of the Year

2023 Gold Winner for Historical from Foreword INDIES

In 1956, unknown human remains are discovered deep within the mosaic of rugged forests and interconnected waterways of Northern Minnesota, once home to the native Ojibwe people.

More than 30 years later, fresh news of the cold case reopens old wounds for an Arizona family, from a time when gender stereotypes, racial bigotry, and small-town gossip led to tragedy. Now, three generations — a mother, son and granddaughter —  embark on a cross-country journey in a search for truth and a hope of redemption.

As long-buried secrets are unearthed, they each begin to question their memories, motives, and basic notions of good and evil.

Available in print, e-book and audio.

Peculiar Savage Beauty

“… gripping, atmospheric novel. McCann’s Dust Bowl saga meshes a seminal event in American history with a suspenseful plot and insightfully etched characters.”

~ Publishers Weekly

 

The black blizzard is a formidable enemy. It blots out the sun, chokes the life from both man and beast. When RJ Evans finds herself engulfed in inky blackness and holed up beneath her Model AA Ford on an isolated plains road – dirt caked beneath her fingernails, skin flecked with blood drawn by the biting dust – she has no idea this trial won’t be her toughest.

What awaits her in the small farming town of Vanham, when she begins her job as a geologist for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, is even more daunting. Drought and over-plowing by men determined to conquer the land have turned the once-lush plains into a brutal twin of the Sahara. Headstrong and intent on healing the earth through conservation farming, RJ must somehow find her place in a tight-knit community that welcomes neither women in authority nor changes to their way of life.

Inspired by actual historical events during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl environmental disaster, Peculiar Savage Beauty is a parable about man’s quest to dominate the land and nature’s refusal to be conquered, about unlikely alliances and unexpected love.

Available in print, e-book and audio.

All Different Kinds of Free

“… a story that defies imagination, rich with detail and historical significance. Through Margaret Morgan’s voice, we learn how one strong woman took on her enemies and fought with a courage that that can only inspire. A wonderful story, beautifully written.”

– Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of book club classics The Kitchen House and Glory Over Everything

“With stunning clarity and empathetic grace, McCann creates a heroine to celebrate. A gripping story, this novel illuminates a forgotten history of a free woman and her children abducted into slavery who fought for freedom dignity, and social justice.”

 – Jewell Parker Rhodes, New York Times bestselling author and Coretta Scott King Author Award winner for Will’s Race for Home

Inspired by a true story.

A free woman of color kidnapped and sold into slavery fights for her family and her freedom, sparking one of the most pivotal Supreme Court cases in American history.

This fully-revised 15th Anniversary Edition of my award-winning debut novel brings new attention to the astonishing true story of Margaret Morgan-a free woman of color whose life changed forever on a frigid Pennsylvania night in 1837. When Maryland bounty hunters burst into her home, Margaret and her children are violently abducted, torn from everything they know, and sold into slavery. But even as her body and spirit are tested beyond imagining, Margaret refuses to stop fighting for her freedom and for the family ripped away from her.

Her ordeal sparks a firestorm that reaches the U.S. Supreme Court in Prigg v. Pennsylvania, a landmark decision that marked the first major pro-slavery ruling by the federal government and helped lay the groundwork for the states’ rights battles that would erupt into the Civil War. While history often records the case as a constitutional turning point, McCann’s engrossing novel shifts the focus to the woman at its center-restoring Margaret to her rightful place as a symbol of courage, resilience, and unyielding hope.

Releases November 10. 2026. Pre-order today!

Words: Essays on Writing, Reading, and Life

“… delivered in a smooth, memoir-ish voice so deja vu of McCann’s fiction. In an endless sea of books of essays on writing, Words comes across fresher and more genuine than the rest.”

 ~ C. Hope Clark, author of the Edisto Island Mysteries and Carolina Slade Mystery series, and editor of Funds for Writers

Jessica McCann has woven together a collection of personal essays and writing tips that offer a unique glimpse into her writing journey and process. She is an award-winning historical novelist and has worked as a professional freelance writer and editor for magazines, universities, corporations, and nonprofits for more than 30 years.

In Words, McCann shares her passion for books, as well as research that shows how reading improves our lives. With a philosophy that is equally pragmatic and optimistic, Words will appeal to readers and writers alike.

Available in print, e-book and audio.