First published 2002
Federal agent James Morrison arrives in rural Georgia in 1866 to establish a local Freedmen's Bureau office. The newly freed slaves need protection, education, and work contracts, but white landowners resist every change. Morrison finds himself caught between Washington's mandates and the reality on the ground. Former Confederate soldiers threaten violence. Black families seek justice that seems impossible to deliver. Local officials obstruct his efforts at every turn. As tensions escalate, Morrison must choose between following orders from distant bureaucrats or protecting the people who depend on him. The decision will test everything he believes about duty, justice, and the price of freedom in a nation trying to rebuild itself.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: duty-vs-justice, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Georgia, United States
Period: 1866
16 pages · Paperback · Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
Content warnings: violence