by Edward Ball
First published 1998
Edward Ball inherited more than just his family name. He discovered his ancestors operated 25 plantations across South Carolina and enslaved nearly 4,000 people over generations. The journalist decides to confront this legacy directly. Ball conducts extensive research through historical records and tracks down relatives scattered across the country. His investigation leads him to contact approximately 100,000 African Americans descended from Ball slaves. Through personal interviews, he listens to family stories passed down through generations. These conversations reveal the brutal reality of plantation life. The Ball family owners practiced systematic exploitation, sexual violence, and extreme cruelty. Ball learns that the benevolent patriarch image was a myth. His research exposes how slavery's damage extends far beyond historical records into living memory. The book documents both the documented facts and the human cost that continues to shape American families today.
Genres: history, biography-memoir, african-american-historical-fiction, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: confronting-the-past, family-legacy
Setting: South Carolina
Period: 19th-century, 20th-century
Hardcover · VIKING
Content warnings: racism, slavery, violence