A Journey Through Time

Explore Okeela Grove

Welcome to a world where the past never truly disappears, magic hums beneath the mangroves, and every generation must choose what to carry forward and what to set free.

The Okeela Grove series blends magical realism, romance, and layered family histories into the story of one South Florida town from 1850 to 2100, where each generation grows under the sway of the land’s mysteries, its tangled folklore, and the quiet magic drifting through rivers of grass.

Here, orchids feed on heartbreak and passion, and melodies carry old stories farther than memory ever could. Choices made in one era echo into the next, altering the lives that follow. At its heart, Okeela Grove is a love letter to Florida: its fragile ecosystems, its haunted histories, and its persistent, resilient beauty.

 

The Cypress Girl

Love, land, and buried truths ignite in the wild Florida glades.

A young woman in 1858 Florida uncovers the dangerous truths behind her family’s disappearance as land, loyalty, and first love collide in the shadowed wilds of the Everglades.

    • Main Theme: Wayfaring Stranger (Rhiannon Giddens)
      Haunting folk spiritual on journey and grief.

    • Ellie’s Theme: Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies (Kathryn Lillich)
      Observant, sultry, quietly rebellious.

    • Baby Will’s Theme: Didn’t Leave Nobody But the Baby (Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, and Gillian Welch)
      Fun, hypnotic, alluding to his origins.

    • Luke and the Violin: Swanee River (Pete Seeger)
      Historic, somber, and stripped of problematic words.

    • Dance Scene at the DeWitt Estate: The Lovers’ Waltz Duet (Jay Ungar and Molly Mason)
      Poignant and slightly heartbreaking.

    • Running into the Glades: Little Sparrow (Dolly Parton) and The Birds are Singing at Night (Lord Huron)
      The thrill of getting lost.

    • The Chickee: The Rain (Joe Hisaishi)
      Hopeful and mystical.

    • Luke’s Theme: If I Go, I’m Goin (Gregory Alan Isakov)
      Romantic but resigned.

    • Give Him Time: Ashokan Farewell (Evan Stover, Jay Ungar, Matt Glaser, Molly Mason, and Russ Barenberg)
      Slow, poignant waltz for longing glances.

    • Final Scene: Wildwood Flower (Keith Whitley & Ricky Skaggs)
      Happy for now.

Apple Music Playlist

 

The Walker Inheritance

Forbidden love and long-hidden letters awaken a dangerous legacy.

In 1920s Florida, two girls bound by secrets and forbidden love discover letters from the past—awakening buried histories and echoing a legacy of resilience that refuses to die.

    • Main Theme: The Curse (Agnes Obel)
      Elegiac, jazzy, about  rising from the underground.

    • Sylvie’s Theme: Feeling Good (Nina Simone)
      Observant, sultry, quietly rebellious.

    • Hazel’s Theme: Find Yourself (Regina Carter)
      Violin jazz about growth and roots.

    • Blessy’s Theme: At the Purchaser’s Option (Rhiannon Giddens)
      A history of haunting defiance.

    • The Cotton Club: Halo (Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox)
      Alive in the halo of Jazz and a safe space.

    • Sylvie and Hazel: She Keeps Me Warm (Mary Lambert)
      Sorry, not sorry. I still adore this song.

    • Oscar and Ellie and  Luke and Cate: Strange (Celeste)
      Love lost and love found.

    • Fire: Strange Fruit (Billie Holiday)
      Dark, mournful, and visceral.

    • Reparations: Rise Up (Andra Day)
      Community coming together to rebuild.

    • Final Scene: Once There Was a Hushpuppy (Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin)
      Sweeping and joyous rebirth.

Apple Music Playlist

 

The Orchid Delirium

A mythical orchid blurs science, memory, and desire in 1960s Florida.

In 1964 Miami, a botanist chasing a mythical orchid risks her sanity, her heart, and the future of Okeela Grove as obsession blurs the line between science, memory, and desire.

    • Main Theme: Do You Believe in Magic? (The Lovin’ Spoonful)
      Ironic whimsy vs. deep mystery.

    • Nora’s Theme: Ain’t Gonna Drown (Elle King)
      This swampy, defiant blues-rock ballad channels the grit, weariness, and refusal to be erased that echoes in Nora’s voice.

    • Family Dinner: Family Tree (Kings of Leon)
      Flirty, confrontational, and a wink at the tangled romantic family history (Nora’s mom and Callum’s dad).

    • Hollin’s Obsession: Bad Things (Jace Everett) Sexy, Southern Gothic track adds humor and heat with a menacing edge.

    • Swamp Gas 1: Where is My Mind? (The Pixies)
      An off-kilter anthem perfectly captures disorientation, betrayal, and unraveling—especially after the X-rated orchid tape fiasco

    • Swamp Gas 2: Color Blind (Natalie Walker)
      A dreamy melancholy and layered introspection to reflect the push-pull of  relationships.

    • The Eldorado: Rescue Me (Fontella Bass)
      Campy and clever and a little sad.

    • Gertie’s Theme: Sweet Child O Mine (Jae Hall)
      Innocence hiding surprising insight.

    • Building the Case: A Hard Days Night (The Beatles)
      Literal Exhaustion Meets Burgeoning Desire

    • Final Scenes: All for Us (Labrinth & Zendaya)
      Intense, gospel-infused track channels generational burden and the raw ache of trying to do something that matters.

Apple Music Playlist