by Beth Volpert Johansen (Author)
Down By The Riverside
A Southern Christmas journey about second chances, unexpected grace, and the places that help us find our way home.
Down By The Riverside takes readers on a Southern sleigh ride beginning on the busy courthouse square in Lawrenceville, Georgia, and winding through the heart of the state-from Claxton and the tiny town of Santa Claus to Doctortown and the banks of the Altamaha River, through Savannah's historic squares where the past is never far from the present, and on to Brunswick and the Golden Isles.
Along the way are weathered churches and wide front porches, cotton fields and old farmhouses, rivers edged by moss-draped trees, coastal marshes touched by salt air, and the food, music, faith, history, and Christmas traditions of the people who call these places home.
At the heart of the journey is Astrid, a young woman struggling to find her way through addiction and recovery, whose path crosses with Eli Walker-a man known to most simply as Santa. What follows is a story of redemption, forgiveness, chosen family, and the sometimes unexpected places where hope is waiting.
Down By The Riverside is the first novel in The Places That Remember, a series about the people and places that hold our stories-and remind us that finding our way home doesn't always mean returning to where we started.
Some places remember history. The best ones remember hope.
Number of Pages: 188
Dimensions: 0.43 x 9 x 6 IN
Publication Date: October 01, 2026
