Booth by Karen Joy Fowler explores a family made (in)famous by the history-altering actions of John Wilkes Booth. While many know that John Wilkes was an actor, many still may not know (including myself) that he came from a family of actors. His father, Junius Brutus Booth, was a famous Shakespearean actor in London who… Continue reading Review: Booth by Karen Joy Fowler
Black Cloud Rising follows Sergeant Richard Etheridge of the African Brigade on their mission liberating Plantations in coastal North Carolina, as well as flushing out remaining Confederates and partisan guerillas. The story takes place in 1863, in a time and place where many enslaved men had fled their masters to join up with the Union… Continue reading Review: Black Cloud Rising by David Wright Faladé
Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson follows Phebe Delores Brown, the child of an enslaved woman and the master of their plantation. Phebe has avoided the harsh field toil by weaving and sewing alongside her mother on the Bell Plantation in Charles City, Virginia. Her mother is a strong influence on her life--teaching her healing… Continue reading Review: Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson
Long after the slave trade had ended, slavers and merchants would still travel to the West coast of Africa to illegally purchase new "property," while at the same time avoiding any nation's govt ships to bring the "contraband" to the US. Such was the case with Cudjo Lewis in the early 1860s, right before the… Continue reading Review: Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston
The Tubman Command by Elizabeth Cobbs tells the true story of Harriet Tubman's instrumental involvement in the Combahee River raid which resulted in freeing about 750 enslaved people from plantations situated on that river. Cobbs brings Tubman from mythic figure of "Moses" down to earth as a woman conflicted with her emotions in relation… Continue reading Review: The Tubman Command by Elizabeth Cobbs
Women of the Blue and Gray tells the true stories of women on both sides of the Civil War who defied gender norms and were social pioneers despite the strict Victorian mores of the time. Although I had some knowledge of womens' involvement in the American Civil a la nursing and spying, Marianne Monson… Continue reading Review: Women of the Blue & Gray by Marianne Monson
Varina by Charles Frazier tells the story of Varina Davis, wife of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. From their first meeting, to the violent end of the war and her subsequent flight from the South to the frayed years of Reconstruction and beyond. Now I know what you may be thinking--why would you read a… Continue reading Review: Varina by Charles Frazier
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