This superb novel, set on the Eastern shore of Maryland, was a NYTimes Notable Book of 2012. The author's surname is the name an island in the Chesapeake Bay. His ancestors were some of the earliest settlers. Thus, he is well equipped to write about a place that is neither black nor white, land nor sea, north nor south.
The story covers three generations of Masons, owners of The Retreat, a plantation with a mansion and thousands of acres of farmland on the Chester River, and the blacks who were once their slaves and later their servants and employees. Before the Civil War, 'Duke' Mason sells most of his slaves south, as he fears having his lands confiscated should there be a war and a punitive peace. This act haunts his son-in-law and granddaughter, the next two managers of The Retreat. Most of the the black families stay on, as Wyatt Bayly, husband of Duke's daughter, is a fair man, perceptive businessman and without racial prejudice. The tension throughout is based on his generosity to his foreman's son, his son's only companion and best friend. So, when it's time for tutors for Thomas, Randall is included in the two-boy school. Randall is so talented that Wyatt pays for him to go to college, albeit a Negro school, Howard, in D.C. Randall's sister is beautiful and her relationship with Thomas is the second major plot line. There is some fabulous background information on the ill-fated quarter century of peach farming on the Shore, as well as the growth of the dairy industry. The issues between the blacks and whites are not as predictable as you would expect. This is well worth the read.
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