Status
Available
Pages
156
Collection
Publication
Oakland, CA : PM Press, 2009.
Description
It's 1959 in socialist Virginia. The Deep South is an independent black nation called Nova Africa. The second Mars expedition is about to touch down on the red planet and a pregnant scientist is climbing the Blue Ridge in search of her great grandfather, a teenage slave who fought with John Brown in Harriet Tubman's guerrilla army. Long unavailable in English, this bold novel tells the tale of what might have happened if John Brown's raid on Harper's ferry had succeeded - and the Civil War had been started by the abolitionists, not the slave owners.
User reviews
LibraryThing member lavaturtle
This is an intriguing story about an alternate history where John Brown's raid was successful and the Southern United States became a Black socialist utopia. I love this premise!
Of the novel's three viewpoints, the narrative from the past was the most compelling, in that it actually told a storyreform in some ways over time . And the narrative of the present... it was okay, but nothing really happened. Left me wanting to know more about how we got from John Brown's army raiding things in the South to a war for the South to be independent as a Black state .
Still, though, a cool premise.
Of the novel's three viewpoints, the narrative from the past was the most compelling, in that it actually told a story
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about a character I cared about. The letters mostly left the other guy sounding really annoying and self-absorbed, even if he did Still, though, a cool premise.
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LibraryThing member ThomasPluck
if only it were true....
LibraryThing member magonistarevolt
I had such a good time reading this book!
Though I read all of it, I was tempted to skip the parts that were "present day" (in the 1950s Socialist United States) in favor of reading more about the Harriet Tubman and John Brown's guerrilla war turning into the US Civil War instead of confederate
What blew my mind was the how international solidarity could have played a part in such a real life situation: troops came by the hundreds from the Molly Maguires in Pennsylvania, the Cree, the Garibaldini, the Haitians, the Paris Communards, etc. etc.
Though I read all of it, I was tempted to skip the parts that were "present day" (in the 1950s Socialist United States) in favor of reading more about the Harriet Tubman and John Brown's guerrilla war turning into the US Civil War instead of confederate
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seceding states doing so. What blew my mind was the how international solidarity could have played a part in such a real life situation: troops came by the hundreds from the Molly Maguires in Pennsylvania, the Cree, the Garibaldini, the Haitians, the Paris Communards, etc. etc.
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Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1988
Physical description
156 p.; 20 cm
ISBN
9781604860870