Page from a Tennessee Journal

by Thomas Howard, Francine

• ISBN13: 9780982555064
• ISBN10: 0982555067
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-02-23
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Summary

The Civil War has been over for fifty years, but people in Tennessee still adhere to rigid social divides and racial oppression is the norm. Life is hard for white landowner Alexander McNaughton and his wife Eula Mae, but it’s worse for black sharecropper John, his wife Annalaura and their family. When John begins having feelings for Annaluara, he sets in motion a devastating chain of events that will change all of their lives. The convergence of the lives and choices of these fascinating characters– made from fear, pride, determination, spite, nobility and revenge –leads to a heart-pounding and heartbreaking climax that feels at once original, audacious and inevitable. Told from alternating points of view among the four main characters, the novel presents a fascinating tapestry of life in the South one hundred years ago. The novel feels impeccably researched and authentic; not for an instant did I question that this was how life was lived - or how limited some choices were - at that time. Page from a Tennessee Journal reads like a novel from someone who has been writing for ages. It’s nuanced, powerful, shocking and sexual. It masterfully exposes the shame of subjugation and subtly shows how fifty years after the Civil War, for most white people in the South, African-Americans were still thought of as slaves and black women chattel at best.