by Edouard Glissant (1984)
""The Fourth Century tells of the quest by young Mathieu Be;luse to discover the lost history of his country, Martinique. Aware that the officially recorded version he learned in school omits and distorts, he turns to a quimboiseur named Papa Longoue;. This old man of the forest, a healer, seer, and storyteller, knows the oral tradition and its relation to the powers of the land and the forces of nature. He tells of the love-hate relationship between the Longoue; and Be;luse families, whose ancestors were brought as slaves to Martinique. Upon arrival, Longoue; immediately escaped and went to live in the hills as a maroon. Be;luse remained in slavery. The intense relationship that had formed between the two men in Africa continued and came to encompass the relations between their masters, or, in the case of Longoue;, his would-be master, and their descendants. The Fourth Century closes the gap between the families as Papa Longoue;, last of his line, conveys the history to Mathieu Be;luse, who becomes his heir.""--Publisher's description."
Sandra Dallas
1856. Mormon converts Nannie, Louisa, Jessie, and Anne, all from the British Isles, travel in the Martin Handcart Company, making the 1,300-mile journey on foot from Iowa City to Salt Lake City, while enduring unimaginable hardships. Each woman will test the boundaries of her faith and learn the true meaning of survival and friendship along the way.
Sanjida O'Connell
Emily Harris, a glamorous young English actress, arrives in America in 1859. There, she meets and falls in love with a charming southern gentleman, Charles Earl Brook. But shortly after they are married, Emily discovers that Charles has kept a terrible secret from her. The Brooks are slave-owners and Emily is forced to travel to the deep south where Charles keeps seven hundred men, women and children in abject poverty. As civil war breaks out, Emily's world becomes increasingly dangerous and she realises that her growing friendship with the slaves could cost her everything she has ever loved.
Léonie J. Archer
Bringing together normally self-contained areas of research, this book presents penetrating analyses of the nature and perpetuation of slavery through the ages.
amer
Children's historical novel. In 1859, when Gilly's father goes to search for gold in the Rocky Mountains, the eleven-year-old is sent to stay with her aunt and uncle in Virginia, where she befriends one of her uncle's slave girls, finds out about the Underground Railroad, and discovers that people are not always exactly as they seem.