Do You like book The Handsome Road (1974)?
The Handome Road brings some of the characters from Deep Summer further along in history. Telling the story of the causes of the civil war from various viewpoints makes it easier to understand why the South defended slavery. The plantation owners needed the slaves and the poor whites could never rise from poverty because who would pay them to work when slaves would work for nothing? That meant they had nothing to fight for. Only the slaves had anything to gain and even they were sometimes living better than they would have on their own. The fictional characters gave so much life to the history that these books in the plantation trilogy were hard to put down.
—Mary
A historical novel about two women whose lives are changed by the American Civil War, and whose worlds repeatedly intersect, often in unexpected ways. 1949.Full review (and recommendations of other little-known books!) at Another look bookA high-quality historical fiction that afforded me some nice escapism during the final parts of a very cold winter. I especially appreciated being exposed--for basically the first time--to the plights of the poor, white laboring class during the Civil War-era South. The idea that a whole class of people (arguably) had it worse than slaves was quite eye-opening. A great, engaging story! I also liked that the two women didn't turn all chummy towards each other; it was more like they were nemeses. Made things much more interesting.
—Bree (AnotherLookBook)
The second book of this trilogy is set in Louisiana along River Road immediately before, during and after the Civil War. It juxtaposes plantation life with that of the "poor white trash". Life at Ardeith Plantation is glamorous and extravagant until the war takes a toll and will only endure with determination and acceptance that life has now changed. The lives on the other side of town take on a prominence never dreamed of only to be dashed, but yet with the changes made after the war there is a hope of pulling oneself out of the gutter with sheer force of will!His is another fun and quick read that I had previously read as a young teen. Reading it again was also fun, but this time rather than be swept away by the romance and nostalgia of the era, I was more aware and more interested in the subtle implications of the opposing way of life lived at Ardeith Plantation and in Rattletrap Square and how the war changed life for both.
—LemonLinda
