Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lay Down My Sword and Shield | 1971 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 2 | Wayfaring Stranger | 2014 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 3 | Two for Texas | 1982 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 4 | The Jealous Kind | 2016 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 5 | Cimarron Rose | 1997 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 6 | Another Kind of Eden | 2021 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 7 | Heartwood | 1999 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 8 | Every Cloak Rolled in Blood | 2022 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 9 | Bitterroot | 2001 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 10 | In the Moon of Red Ponies | 2004 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 11 | Rain Gods | 2009 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 12 | Feast Day of Fools | 2011 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 13 | House of the Rising Sun | 2015 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 14 | Don’t Forget Me, Little Bessie | 2025 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
The Holland Family Universe encompasses fourteen novels that follow three generations of a Texas family through different periods of American history. The series connects the Hackberry Holland, Billy Bob Holland, and Weldon Holland sub-series into a multigenerational saga of violence, honor, and the American frontier.
The books span from Lay Down My Sword and Shield (1971) to Don’t Forget Me, Little Bessie (2025), covering everything from the Civil War era to the modern West. Burke uses the Holland family to explore how violence and moral struggle pass from one generation to the next, set against landscapes that range from the Texas Hill Country to the Montana wilderness.