Synopses & Reviews
Starting from a photograph and writings left by her grandmother, acclaimed African-American novelist Thulani Davis goes looking for the white folk” in her family, a Scots-Irish family of cotton planters unknown to her-and uncovers a history far richer and stranger than she had ever imagined. Her journey challenges us to examine the origins of some of our most deeply ingrained notions about what makes a family black or white, and offers an immensely compelling, intellectually challenging alternative.
Synopsis
Beloved novelist and playwright Thulani Davis takes a journey through her ancestral history and finds tartan plaid, unlikely lovers, and Confederate soldiers
Synopsis
Starting with a photograph and some writings left by her grandmother, Thulani Davis goes looking for the "white folk" in her family-a Scots-Irish family of cotton planters unknown to her-and uncovers a history far richer and stranger than she had ever imagined. When Davis's grandmother died in 1971, she was writing a novel about her parents, Mississippi cotton farmers who met after the Civil War: Chloe Curry, a former slave from Alabama, married with several children, and Will Campbell, a white planter from Missouri who had never married. In this compelling intersection of genealogy, memoir, and Reconstruction history, Davis picks up where her grandmother left off. Her journey takes her from Missouri to Mississippi to Alabama, back to her home town in Virginia, and even to Sierra Leone. The Campbells lead her to locate not only their pioneer history but to find the previously unknown roots of her mother's family; to Civil War archives, where she discovers the records of the Campbells who fought with Confederate troops; to the Silver Creek plantation in Yazoo, Mississippi, where the two branches of her family history became one; and to a county near her Virginia hometown where both families started their American journey, completely unknown to each other. My Confederate Kinfolk examines the origins of some of our most deeply ingrained notions about what makes a family black or white and offers an immensely compelling, intellectually challenging alternative.
About the Author
Thulani Davis is a poet, novelist, journalist, playwright, and librettist. Among her work are two novels, 1959 and Maker of Saints; several plays, including Everybodys Ruby, which premiered at the NY Shakespeare Public Festival, and the librettos for Amistad and Malcolm X. She is also the author of two collections of poetry and two PBS documentaries, and has published in numerous magazines and journals. She lives in New York City.