Where the Spanish Moss Won’t Grow | Chapter Five
Chapter Five Savannah’s timber courthouse was packed to the walls. Word had spread quickly through the small colony of the sensational crime – the first murder in Georgia’s short history – and the dramatic capture of the culprits. By the time Alice and Richard...
Where the Spanish Moss Won’t Grow | Chapter Four
Chapter Four The canoe glided through the salt marshes, carrying Alice and Richard ever farther from the scene of their crime. By late afternoon, they had put several miles between themselves and Hutchinson Island. The sun beat down on the winding tidal creeks, and...
Where the Spanish Moss Won’t Grow | Chapter Three
Chapter Three The days on Hutchinson Island blurred together in a haze of sweat, hunger, and dread. Under William Wise’s cane and leering gaze, Alice and Richard learned that survival meant silence and submission. But even the quietest endurance could not keep the...
Where the Spanish Moss Won’t Grow | Chapter Two
Where the Spanish Moss Won’t Grow is a haunting historical fiction web series by Chris Allen, based on the tragic true story of Alice Riley—the first woman executed in Georgia.
Set in the early 1700s against the backdrop of colonial Savannah, the web series follows Alice, an indentured servant newly arrived from Ireland, as she struggles to survive in a brutal and unfamiliar land. Trapped in a violent household and surrounded by suspicion, Alice becomes entangled in a murder that shocks the fledgling colony. Accused of killing her abusive master, she is imprisoned and sentenced to death—but not before giving birth to a child born behind bars.
Through richly drawn characters, atmospheric prose, and a deep sense of place, Where the Spanish Moss Won’t Grow explores themes of justice, resilience, and the human spirit in the face of cruelty. Weaving historical fact with fiction, the novel breathes new life into a woman long remembered only as a ghostly legend, asking: What really happened to Alice Riley beneath the hanging tree?
Where The Spanish Moss Won’t Grow | Chapter One
Where the Spanish Moss Won’t Grow is a haunting historical fiction web series by Chris Allen, based on the tragic true story of Alice Riley—the first woman executed in Georgia.
Set in the early 1700s against the backdrop of colonial Savannah, the web series follows Alice, an indentured servant newly arrived from Ireland, as she struggles to survive in a brutal and unfamiliar land. Trapped in a violent household and surrounded by suspicion, Alice becomes entangled in a murder that shocks the fledgling colony. Accused of killing her abusive master, she is imprisoned and sentenced to death—but not before giving birth to a child born behind bars.
Through richly drawn characters, atmospheric prose, and a deep sense of place, Where the Spanish Moss Won’t Grow explores themes of justice, resilience, and the human spirit in the face of cruelty. Weaving historical fact with fiction, the novel breathes new life into a woman long remembered only as a ghostly legend, asking: What really happened to Alice Riley beneath the hanging tree?