This brilliant recounting of the events surrounding John Brown's
legendary raid on the armory at Harpers Ferry is a masterpiece of modern
American storytelling that will be remembered as the crowning
achievement of Russell Banks' celebrated career. Russell Banks' gift for
creating compelling stories populated by gritty and startlingly
realcharacters has resulted in such acclaimed masterworks as
"Continental Drift," "The Sweet Hereafter" and his most recent
bestseller, "Rule of the Bone." Now Banks takes on one of American
history's most misunderstood figures, John Brown, whose October 1859
raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, crossed the line
from civil protest to armed struggle, prefiguring the greatest
conflagration in this country's history. Narrated by the enigmatic
abolitionist's son Owen, the novel dazzlingly recreates the fractured
political and social landscape of pre-Civil War America, when slavery
and talk of secession were tearing the country apart. But
"Cloudsplitter" is about much more than one man's quest for political
change and social justice. It is a moving and powerfully told story of
fathers and sons, of racial conflict and division, as well as an
intimate portrait of 19th-century family life. Rich in incident and
exquisite detail, "Cloudsplitter" is the novel that will elevate Russell
Banks to the highest rank of 20th-century American authors.
