Brotherhood
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
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.
In this powerful and unflinching story of a family caught in the period of Reconstruction, A.B. Westrick provides a glimpse into the enormous social and political upheaval of the time.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Westrick makes an impressive debut with this post Civil War novel, set in Richmond, Va., told from the point of view of self-proclaimed Confederate son and "good old boy" Shadrach Weaver. A skilled tailor's assistant, 14-year-old Shad is dyslexic and plays second fiddle to his "hothead" older brother, Jeremiah, since their father died at Gettysburg. Circumstances bring Shad into contact with the liberally minded Perkinson household, in which black servants and children are not just treated as equals, but educated. Invited to trade sewing lessons for reading lessons, he uneasily accepts. Shad's initial shock at his situation turns to appreciation, creating a turbulent conflict between his growing feelings for the black teachers and children and his loyalty to the Ku Klux Klan, to which he has recently sworn allegiance, even as he recoils from its cruel actions. Readers will undoubtedly be taken aback by Shad's hatred of Yankees and contempt for blacks, but Westrick generally achieves her goal of capturing Shad's "emerging capacity to question his circumstances," while drawing a vivid picture of the embittered, violent environment of 1867 Richmond. Ages 10 up.
