James Lee Burke: Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie (UK 2025)

From the Publisher:
Bestselling author James Lee Burke tells his most thrilling and insightful story yet through the eyes of fourteen-year-old Bessie Holland
At the beginning of the twentieth century, as America grapples with forces of human and natural violence more powerful than humanity has ever seen, Bessie Holland yearns for the love that she has never known. She finds a soulmate and mentor in a brilliant but tormented suffragette English teacher, who inspires Bessie to fight the forces of evil that permeate her world.

Watching the vast Texas countryside being destroyed by an oil company and a menacing figure with a violent past, Bessie is prepared to defend her home and her family. But when she accidentally kills an unarmed man to defend her father Hackberry, she must flee to New York. There, her older brother introduces her to boys who will grow into gangsters, but as children admire and respect Bessie's spirit and fortitude as she is cast into a gangland that yearns for justice and mercy.

A welcome return to the beloved Holland series and populated with characters both radiant and despicable, Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie is an epic story of a remarkable young girl who fights against potentially overwhelming forces.

James Lee Burke: Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie. Orion Books, ISBN: 9781398722521 (December, 2025), 368 p., £10.99.

James Lee Burke: Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie (UK 2025)

From the Publisher:
At the turbulent beginning of the twentieth century, fourteen-year-old Bessie Holland longs for a love that she has never known.
But as the vast Texas countryside is destroyed by oil companies and stalked by a menacing figure with a violent past, Bessie lives on constant alert to protect her home and family. Her only escape is with her suffragette English teacher, who inspires Bessie to fight against the forces of evil and poverty.

When Bessie accidentally kills a man to defend her father, she flees to New York, into a gangland that yearns for justice and mercy. There, her older brother introduces her to boys who will one day be gangsters-but, as children, admire Bessie's remarkable bravery.

Returning to his beloved Holland series, James Lee Burke portrays a world of both radiance and violence and a young girl who takes on overwhelming forces.

James Lee Burke: Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie. A Novel. Orion Books, ISBN: 9781398722507 (June, 2025), 358 p., £22.00, eBook £12.99.

James Lee Burke: Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie (USA 2025)

From the Publisher:
Bestselling author James Lee Burke tells his most thrilling and insightful story yet through the eyes of fourteen-year-old Bessie Holland
At the beginning of the twentieth century, as America grapples with forces of human and natural violence more powerful than humanity has ever seen, Bessie Holland yearns for the love that she has never known. She finds a soulmate and mentor in a brilliant but tormented suffragette English teacher, who inspires Bessie to fight the forces of evil that permeate her world.

Watching the vast Texas countryside being destroyed by an oil company and a menacing figure with a violent past, Bessie is prepared to defend her home and her family. But when she accidentally kills an unarmed man to defend her father Hackberry, she must flee to New York. There, her older brother introduces her to boys who will grow into gangsters, but as children admire and respect Bessie's spirit and fortitude as she is cast into a gangland that yearns for justice and mercy.

A welcome return to the beloved Holland series and populated with characters both radiant and despicable, Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie is an epic story of a remarkable young girl who fights against potentially overwhelming forces.

James Lee Burke: Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie. A Novel. Atlantic Monthly Press, ISBN: 9780802164520 (June, 2025), 358 p., $28.00, eBook $28.00.