WELCOME TO

THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF

Sharon Pratscher

Welcome to Sharon Pratscher’s official site. Her novel Field of Stones follows Lettie as she learns to read the powers shaping Depression-era Tennessee—company towns, closed mines, moonshining, and the violent fallout of poverty. Guided by the spirit and legacy of the Cherokee, she embraces social and economic justice: work with dignity, safety for families, and truth-telling about the land and those displaced from it. Sharon’s own career echoes those themes: Sharon”s career in the disability field focused on empowering people and honoring voices that are too often unheard of.

About the Author

Sharon Pratscher

Sharon L. Pratscher, M.Ed., lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Alan Brown. Across a varied career, she has focused on empowering people and honoring voices that are too often unheard. As a project manager, she helped secure and steward grants that improved lives, including an accessible-housing initiative that remains active. She introduced a national program in Texas to better educate pediatricians about developmental issues—training that medical schools often overlook—and that effort continues statewide today. Earlier, in rural early-childhood work, she identified infants with developmental concerns and guided families to essential services, including long-term disability support when needed. Research and writing ran through all of these roles, shaping her clear-eyed, compassionate storytelling.

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About The Book

Field of Stones

Set in Depression-era East Tennessee, Field of Stones follows thirteen-year-old Lettie as she learns to name—and challenge—the forces shaping her world. Mine closures, moonshining, and the brutal displacement of the Cherokee leave scars on the land and its people. Guided by the mountain’s spirit and the legacy of the Cherokee who once walked there, Lettie comes to believe in social and economic justice: that every family deserves safety, work with dignity, and a future for their children. After losing those she loves to violence born of poverty and power, she devotes her life to improving life in the hills—listening to miners’ families, recording Indigenous history, and welcoming change when the TVA arrives as a transformative post-Depression economic force.

Testimonials

What Readers Say About The Book

Explore the comments from the readers on the book “Field Of Stones” and discover why it’s a must-read:

First class storytelling with richly drawn characters. The novel carries us through the Depression era as we follow a mountain girl growing into a thoughtful, steady woman amid the Tennessee hills. Scenes brim with grit, tenderness, and quiet spirituality. It feels restorative and true, a refreshing journey that lingers after closing.

Alan Brent Reader

Field of Stones captivated me with its Depression era setting. Through Lettie’s bright eyes we witness poverty, social injustice, and the sorrow of Cherokee displacement. A devoted English teacher nurtures her hunger for college and service. Despite hardship, she perseveres and lifts others. Thoughtful, compassionate, and absolutely worth reading today.

Izabella Stuart Reader

Riveting and humane, this story immerses you in a Tennessee mining and moonshining community during the Depression. Lettie’s path to womanhood feels immediate and true. Characters are vivid, scenes precise and purposeful. History deepens every chapter, from Cherokee displacement to jobless miners’ struggles. I felt present throughout. Wholeheartedly recommended reading.

Andrew Hurley Reader

Beautifully written and compelling, this story offers a refreshing change of pace, warm, thoughtful, and satisfying from beginning to end.

K. Goldman Reader

Blogs

Blogs & Articles

New posts arrive regularly, offering history, story craft, and glimpses from her desk that help keep a fading culture remembered.

THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY OF SOUTHEASTERN TENNESSEE FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO THE PRESENT AND ITS IMPACT ON MY NOVEL, FIELD OF STONES
09Sep

THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY OF SOUTHEASTERN TENNESSEE FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO THE PRESENT AND ITS IMPACT ON MY NOVEL, FIELD OF STONES

One of the results of the South losing the Civil War was a decimated economic system and the refusal of the North to abide by…

Silent Warriors: Appalachian Women’s Role in Preserving Cultural Traditions—A Field of Stones Companion
09Sep

Silent Warriors: Appalachian Women’s Role in Preserving Cultural Traditions—A Field of Stones Companion

recorded for Field of Stones reminded me that the novel’s pulse belongs to the women who baked, sewed, and sang culture into being. Their work rarely appears in…

History of the Cherokee in Southeastern Tennessee And it’s Role in the Trail of Tears in 12838
09Sep

History of the Cherokee in Southeastern Tennessee And it’s Role in the Trail of Tears in 12838

The far Southeastern portion of the state of Tennessee near the Southern end of the Appalachian mountains, became one of the most significant areas in…