“This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time.”
NO MAJOR SPOILERS
I never really expected much from this after the first few pages but for some reason, I kept on reading and am so happy I did.
Set in southern Tennessee around 1918-1920 it is the story of Peter, a black man who after going to Harvard comes home to find the memories he has of his home village to be very different to how life really is. Memories of the Civil War still linger in the old White part of the community, a time when they owned their black neighbours and a time when a Black man or woman had little worth. The black community still seems to accept the Whites as masters allowing all sorts of social and physical atrocities to go unpunished and even often rewarded.
Peter sees these atrocities for what they are rather than accepting his communities acceptance and just moving on. He becomes aware that he should attempt to bring his community forward and to try and get the white community to accept the black community as equals.
Of course there is a love affair, murder, social conscience and an awful lot more besides in this tremendous read.
It is written in language of it’s time with derogatory references throughout but it is all within the social acceptance at the time, on both sides of the racial divide. You may need a dictionary handy if you read this but it doesn’t detract from the story one bit.
A fantastic read written when this was as real as the Internet is to us now, and a free download at Project Gutenburg.
Reviewed by:
Trevor Litchfield
Added 29th January 2017
