Leila Meacham

Leila Jaynes Meacham (born in Minden, Louisiana; raised in Texas) was a schoolteacher-turned-novelist best known for her sweeping Southern historical romances. After a long career teaching high school English, she published her breakout novel Roses in 2010 at the age of 70; the book became a New York Times bestseller. She went on to publish several more historical novels with Texas settings and a World War II novel, earning a wide readership for multi-generational family sagas and Southern historical fiction.