This is a great mix of historical fiction and mystery set during the Civil War on a Virginia tobacco plantation. Fuller’s research is impeccable, and his descriptions of everyday life on the plantation from the eyes of the slave, as well as the eyes of the white women in the big house, give this a quality I’ve yet to find in similar books in this genre. When a freed slave and mother figure is murdered, Cassius, a slave carpenter and the protagonist, wants to know who did it and why. Cassius’ character is intriguing. He’s brazen enough to look the master in the eye, and smart enough to get away with it. It is Cassius’s incessant drive for answers that keeps the reader turning the page. I had only one question, and that was whether or not Fuller makes the case for Cassius’ willingness and ability to travel the dangerous countryside away from the plantation the way he does.
David Fuller emailed me and sent me a link to his own blog that answers this specific question. I knew the book was well researched, and after reading his explanation and research, which reminded me of some important facts in the book and in history, I’m satisfied that Cassius’ travels are justified and possible. Case solved. The book is great historical fiction.
