A powerful and unflinching story of a family caught in the period of
Reconstruction.
The year is 1867, the South has been defeated, and the American Civil
War is over. But the conflict goes on. Yankees now patrol the streets of
Richmond, Virginia, and its citizens, both black and white, are
struggling to redefine their roles and relationships. By day,
fourteen-year-old Shadrach apprentices with a tailor and sneaks off for
reading lessons with Rachel, a freed slave, at her school for
African-American children. By night he follows his older brother
Jeremiah to the meetings of a group whose stated mission is to protect
Confederate widows like their mother. But as the true murderous
intentions of the group, now known as the Ku Klux Klan, are revealed,
Shad finds himself trapped between old loyalties and what he knows is
right.
A.B. Westrick provides a glimpse into the enormous social and political
upheaval of the time.