ALONG THE RED DIRT ROAD
Average reader review ~ 5 stars.
Average reader rating - 4.5 stars.
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​SYNOPSIS.

Along the Red Dirt Road is a deeply personal tale that revolves around two families (one black and one white) during the Great Depression - and how courage, perseverance, decency, friendship, and truth brought a secret atrocity (committed in the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War) to light. It is about a reveal that helped to liberate a small southern town so many years ago.  Along the Red Dirt Road is told as a flashback.

As with the sequel (Three Roads Out), expect an uplifting story packed with twists, turns, fascinating characters, and many emotions - plus a generous helping of subtle hints and sub-plots for readers with hungry imaginations.
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BACK STORY.

It is 1933, and a pandemic of homelessness, joblessness, and financial ruin grip the nation. Wind, drought, and despair ravage the central plains, and an ambitious, new president takes office. Under such circumstances, twelve year old Annie, her parents, and a dog named Bitsy abandon the Oklahoma Dust Bowl for a fresh start in a small town in the Shenandoah Valley. Hillview harbors lingering wounds from the Civil War and strange undercurrents that defy reason or virtue.

The innocent girl is soon befriended by a young soldier, an African American boy, and a grand old lady marked by scandal. All are hostage to the same horrendous secret that locals have concealed since Civil War times - one that Annie is compelled to reveal. Old prejudices, scandal, and cover ups have long poisoned Hillview. It is time for truth to come forth - to empower Annie's kindred spirits, her descendants, and all who may be touched by this tale.


GENRE.

Along the Red Dirt Road is generally classified as Historical Fiction, but contains key elements of Women's Fiction, Southern History, Appalachian History,  Black History, Family Saga, Classic Literary Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Mystery Fiction, and Mainstream Fiction. Three Roads Out (the sequel) also features key elements of Modern Fiction and Jewish Historical Fiction.  Neither book is a romance novel.

AUDIENCE.

Along the Red Dirt Road speaks directly to readers, book clubs, and library groups of many interests and circumstances – with special relevance to baby boomers, young adults, the historical/language arts/social science communities, and socially conscious women and men of all ages. This book contains mildly colorful language and non-gratuitous violence, but no vulgarity, graphic violence, or sexual content.


THEMES & TOPICS.

Alalia syllabaris (stammering). American Civil War. Army of Northern Virginia. Authenticity. Boy soldiers. Bullying. Confederacy. Corruption. Courage. Decency. Dust Bowl. Elitism. Fear. Feeble Mindedness. Friendship. Generosity. Great Depression. Home Guard. Homicide. Honesty. Hope. Immunization. Inheritance. Interracial Friendship. Interracial Love story, Jim Crow, Joy. Justice. Juvenile Conscription. Isolation. Lost Cause. Materialism. Medical Care. Mental Heath/Institutions. Mortality. Mystery. Old Guard. Old South. Peer pressure. Perseverance. Personal empowerment (especially women, teens, minorities). POWs. Pregnancy. Quakers. Race & Gender Equality. Racism. Rebel Cause. Rural Medicine. Rule of Law. Scandal. Secrecy. Segregation. Slavery. Social Empowerment. Sundown Town. Tuberculosis (consumption). Tragedy. Truth. Whites Only. Underground Railroad. Union (Federal) Army, Upward Mobility.

SETTINGS.

Delaware Fort Delaware. Maryland Potomac River, Sharpsburg/Antietam​.  North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains, Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina, Leaksville. Oklahoma Young family home place (fictional). Pennsylvania Gettysburg, Philadelphia, Shenandoah Valley (some overlap with VA, WV): Apples & orchards, Blue Ridge Mountains, Hillview (fictional town), Potomac River, public library, textile mills, Winchester. South Carolina Fort Sumter. Virginia Apples & orchards, Marye's Heights, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Potomac River, public library, Rappahannock River, Shenandoah Valley, textile mills, Winchester. Washington, DC Old Capitol Prison. West Virginia Allegheny mountains, apples & orchards, Blue Ridge Mountains, Potomac River, public library, Shenandoah Valley, textile mills.​

Selected cultural, historical, geographic references ~ African Violets, Abraham Lincoln, American Beauty (rose), American Chestnut, Army of Northern Virginia, Apple Trees, Automobiles (Model T Ford, 1924 REO Speed Wagon truck, 1930 Dodge Straight Six Sedan, 1933 Desoto SCS Roadster, 1933 Buick Fifty-Seven Sedan), Bing Crosby, Blackberries, Carole Lombard, Colored People, Emancipation Proclamation, Encyclopedia Britannica, Federal Territory, Foreclosures, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Fred Foard Papers (UNC), General George Washington, General Jubal Early, General Robert E. Lee,  George Burns, Gracie Allen, Great Depression, Hospitals, Japan (Okinawa), Methodist Church, Morgan Horses, Presbyterian Church, Rebel Armies. Revolutionary War, Studies of the Supernatural, Sympathizers (Confederate and Union), Union (Federal) Army, United States Capitol, Whortleberries, Wild Apple Butter (euphemism for cow manure), Wirehair Fox Terrier, WW2.

PREQUEL & SEQUEL.

It is recommended that you read Along the Red Dirt Road (prequel) before reading Three Roads Out (sequel). Both are closely tied to each other, yet time frames and circumstances are much different. Along the Red Dirt Road (with its Civil War roots) unfolds primarily in 1933 and 1934. Three Roads Out begins about six months after the epilogue to Along the Red Dirt Road concludes, and ends just before Covid strikes Hillview.

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