First published 2014
War correspondent Chris Tomlinson investigates the intertwined histories of two families connected to a Texas cotton plantation. His white ancestors settled Tomlinson Hill in Falls County in 1854, while the black Tomlinsons descended from slaves who worked the same land. NFL star LaDainian Tomlinson grew up believing the hill carried his family's name, only to discover as a child that it honored his ancestors' owners instead. Chris Tomlinson applies his reporting experience from covering ethnic conflicts in Africa and the Middle East to examine 150 years of racial dynamics in one Texas community. He traces both family lines from the plantation's founding through 2007, when LaDainian's father became the last Tomlinson to leave the area. The book challenges family myths Chris heard growing up, including his grandfather's claim that slaves loved their owners so much they adopted the Tomlinson surname. Through meticulous research, Tomlinson exposes how economic inequality, political manipulation, and both subtle and overt racism shaped this microcosm of American race relations. The work extends beyond the page through a PBS documentary and an interactive website preserving oral histories from present-day Marlin, Texas.
Genres: historical-fiction, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, african-american-historical-fiction, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-secrets, social-change
Setting: Texas, Falls County, Marlin
Period: 1854, 2007
448 pages · Hardcover · Thomas Dunne Books
Content warnings: racism, slavery