KAREN STOKES is an archivist at the South Carolina Historical Society in Charleston. Karen used the extensive collection of Pringle and Allston family papers to create the book Bessie in Love and War. Mrs. Pringle made her story well known through her autobiographical writings, but largely left her love story incomplete. Karen has told that part of her story and more through Elizabeth Allston Pringle’s unpublished diaries and letters.
Elizabeth Allston “Bessie” Pringle, heiress, planter, author and widow, lived through upheaval, love, tragedy, and triumph. Through her private letters and diaries—many never published before—this book reveals Bessie’s passionate romance, her heartbreak when her husband died young, and her fierce determination to run two rice plantations in the Pee Dee River region. Combined with her published works, these selections allow us to see not just the public figure, but the resilient woman behind the legacy.
Elizabeth Allston Pringle was the daughter of a state legislator and governor, who was at one time owner of seven plantations but bankrupt at the time of his death. Elizabeth wrote, A Woman Rice Planter, a best-selling book that reduced her financial worries. Her descriptions of the vagaries of rice planting, of her relationships with former slaves and the first generation of free-born African Americans, and of her life in the early Reconstruction period are important to our understanding of the prevailing attitudes and persistence of the Old South in the New.
Date: Friday, November 21st, 2025
Location: Caffe Piccolo- 9428 Ocean Hwy Pawleys Island, SC 29585
Time: 10:45AM-1:00PM
Your ticket includes an author presentation, meet & greet, personalized book signing, salad, a delicious lunch, dessert, beverages, complimentary seating, table service, private dining, and the opportunity to purchase the event book.
Refund Policy- Thank you for signing up for an event at Litchfield Books! Cards will be charged upon time of ticket purchase. We will refund your ticket, excluding our merchant banker convenience fee and credit card reversal fee. Cancellations are accepted up until seven days prior to the event date. If the cancellation is past the seven days you will not be offered a refund but you will be offered the signed copy of the event book.