فریمن: رمان

Freeman , the new novel by Leonard Pitts, Jr., takes place in the first few months following the Confederate surrender and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Upon learning of Lee's surrender, Sam--a runaway slave who once worked for the Union Army--decides to leave his safe haven in Philadelphia and set out on foot to return to the war-torn South. What compels him on this almost-suicidal course is the desire to find his wife, the mother of his only child, whom he and their son left behind 15 years earlier on the Mississippi farm to which they all "belonged." At the same time, Sam's wife, Tilda, is being forced to walk at gunpoint with her owner and two of his other slaves from the charred remains of his Mississippi farm into Arkansas, in search of an undefined place that would still respect his entitlements as slaveowner and Confederate officer. The book's third main character, Prudence, is a fearless, headstrong white woman of means who leaves her Boston home for Buford, Mississippi, to start a school for the former bondsmen, and thus honor her father's dying wish. At bottom, Freeman is a love story--sweeping, generous, brutal, compassionate, patient--about the feelings people were determined to honor, despite the enormous constraints of the times. It is this aspect of the book that should ensure it a strong, vocal, core audience of African-American women, who will help propel its likely critical acclaim to a wider audience. At the same time, this book addresses several themes that are still hotly debated today, some 145 years after the official end of the Civil War. Like Cold Mountain , Freeman illuminates the times and places it describes from a fresh perspective, with stunning results. It has the potential to become a classic addition to the literature dealing with this period. Few other novels so powerfully capture the pathos and possibility of the era particularly as it reflects the ordeal of the black slaves grappling with the promise--and the terror--of their new status as free men and women. Historical,War

A former slave embarks on a hellish journey through the post-Civil War South to reunite with his wife, in this novel by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author. With the news of General Lee’s surrender, Sam, a runaway slave who served in the Union Army, decides to leave his refuge in Philadelphia. He sets out on foot on an almost-suicidal journey through the terrifying, war-torn South to Buford, Mississippi, to find Tilda, the wife he was sold away from fifteen years ago. He knows quite well that his chances are slim . . . Prudence Kent, meanwhile, is heading to Buford on a different mission. The headstrong, wealthy, white war widow is leaving her Boston home to honor her abolitionist father’s dying wish: to open a school for the emancipated slaves . . . And Tilda is headed elsewhere. Her owner, Jim McFarland, is holding her at gunpoint, forcing through the charred remains of his farm and off to Arkansas, in search of a haven that will still respect his entitlements as a slaveowner and Confederate officer . . . An epic, American love story and novel touching on issues we still wrestle with long after official end of the Civil War, Freeman is, as Howard Frank Mosher of the Washington Post writes, “an important addition to the literature of slavery and the Civil War, by a knowledgeable, compassionate and relentlessly truthful writer determined to explore both enslavement in all its malignancy and also what it truly means to be free.” Perfect for fans of Cold Mountain Praise for Freeman “Leonard Pitts has a passion for history and a gift for storytelling. Both shine in this story of love and redemption, which challenges everything we thought we knew about how our nation dealt with its most stubborn stain.” —Gwen Ifill, PBS, author of The Breakthrough “Columnist Leonard Pitts turns out a pretty powerful love story.” —Audie Cornish, All Things Considered “Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist Pitts once again demonstrates his gift for historical fiction . . .. In lyrical prose, Pitts unflinchingly and movingly portrays the period’s cruelties, and triumphs in capturing the spirit of the times through eminently-identifiable lead characters.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

A compelling, important, page-turning historical novel set at the end of the Civil War, in which an escaped slave first returns to his old plantation and then walks across the ravaged South in search of his lost wife ""At the end of the Civil War, an escaped slave first returns to his old plantation and then walks across the ravaged South in search of his lost wife"--Provided by the publisher"--