All information in this post is courtesy of Jen Musico.
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Celebrating the paperback release of
UP FROM FREEDOM
by Wayne Grady
with a SPOTLIGHT and GIVEAWAY
August 14, 2018
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Up From Freedom is
a powerful and emotional novel about the dangers that arise when we
stay silent in the face of prejudice or are complicit in its
development.
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Advance Praise:
“Wayne Grady’s Up From Freedom pulls
history from fiction and fiction from history in a way we very much
need in these troubled, ever-evolving times. Focusing on the issues of
race and self-identity on a continent built by whites on the backs of
blacks forcibly removed from their continent, it examines not
only the clash of two colors but the inevitable blending of them and its
far-reaching and profound implications. The subject matter of the book
comes to life on the printed page in this inter-generational,
inter-racial book by way of a riveting narrative and a cast of complex,
appealing characters. Up From Freedom is an important and engaging book.” —Wayne Johnston, author of the nationally bestselling Son of a Certain Woman
“In Up From Freedom, Wayne
Grady has written an arresting novel about the United States bustling
into the age of steam as it also drifts helplessly towards a
catastrophic civil war. It is a novel that wisely, compassionately, and
movingly brings to vivid life a cast of characters, black and white,
struggling in the snares of slavery and racism. It is a rare
achievement, a novel that is both timely and timeless, a book that
locates conscience and hope at the very centre of human existence.” –Guy Vanderhaeghe, author of The Englishman's Boy, The Last Crossing and A Good Man
“Wayne
Grady writes with such careful devotion to history and human character
that the private conflicts in this story perfectly expose the racial
tumult of the 1830's in America. His language is forthright; his point
of view unsparing; and he guides us through the landscape of slavery by
walking just ahead of it and holding up a mirror.”–Linda Spalding, author of The Purchase and A Reckoning
“From its powerful opening scene, to its poignant finale, Up From Freedom
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About The Book:
As a young man, Virgil Moody vowed he would never be like his father, he would never own slaves. When he moves from his father's plantation in Savannah to New Orleans, he takes with him Annie, a tiny woman with sharp eyes and a sharper tongue, who he is sure would not survive life on the plantation. She'll be much safer with him, away from his father's cruelty. And when he discovers Annie's pregnancy, already a few months along, he is all the more certain that he made the right decision.
As the years pass, the divide between Moody's assumptions and Annie's reality widens ever further. Moody even comes to think of Annie as his wife and Lucas as their son. Of course, they are not. As Annie reminds him, in moments of anger, she and Moody will never be equal. She and her son are enslaved. When their "family" breaks apart in the most brutal and tragic way, and Lucas flees the only life he's ever known, Moody must ask himself whether he has become the man he never wanted to be--but is he willing to hear the answer?
Stretching from the war-torn banks of the Rio Brazos in Texas to the muddy waters of Freedom, Indiana, Moody travels through a country on the brink of civil war, relentlessly searching for Lucas and slowly reconciling his past sins with his hopes for the future. When he meets Tamsey, a former slave, and her family trying to escape the reach of the Fugitive Slave Act, Moody sees an opportunity for redemption. But the world is on the cusp of momentous change, and though some things may be forgotten, nothing is ever really forgiven.
As a young man, Virgil Moody vowed he would never be like his father, he would never own slaves. When he moves from his father's plantation in Savannah to New Orleans, he takes with him Annie, a tiny woman with sharp eyes and a sharper tongue, who he is sure would not survive life on the plantation. She'll be much safer with him, away from his father's cruelty. And when he discovers Annie's pregnancy, already a few months along, he is all the more certain that he made the right decision.
As the years pass, the divide between Moody's assumptions and Annie's reality widens ever further. Moody even comes to think of Annie as his wife and Lucas as their son. Of course, they are not. As Annie reminds him, in moments of anger, she and Moody will never be equal. She and her son are enslaved. When their "family" breaks apart in the most brutal and tragic way, and Lucas flees the only life he's ever known, Moody must ask himself whether he has become the man he never wanted to be--but is he willing to hear the answer?
Stretching from the war-torn banks of the Rio Brazos in Texas to the muddy waters of Freedom, Indiana, Moody travels through a country on the brink of civil war, relentlessly searching for Lucas and slowly reconciling his past sins with his hopes for the future. When he meets Tamsey, a former slave, and her family trying to escape the reach of the Fugitive Slave Act, Moody sees an opportunity for redemption. But the world is on the cusp of momentous change, and though some things may be forgotten, nothing is ever really forgiven.
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About the Author:
WAYNE
GRADY has written more than a dozen books for adult and young readers,
and is also one of Canada's top literary translators. His novel, Emancipation Day,
won the 2013 Amazon.ca First Novel Award and was longlisted for the
Scotiabank Giller Prize. Grady lives in Kingston, Ontario, with his
wife, novelist and creative nonfiction writer Merilyn Simonds.
Wayne Grady’s Awards and Honors
Longlisted for the 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize
A Globe and Mail “Globe 100” Best Book 2013
Winner: Amazon.ca First Novel Award
Longlisted for the CBA Libris Award for Fiction Book of the Year
A Chatelaine Book Club pick
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GIVEAWAY:
I am partnering with Jen Musico for this giveaway:
I am partnering with Jen Musico for this giveaway:
Congrats to our Winner:
Linda from Michigan
USA ONLY
August 15 -August 22
ENTER HERE
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Ooo! This sounds so good!
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