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Title: Prince Edward

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Dennis McFarland

Narrator: Aaron Landon

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 02-04-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The profound coming-of-age story of a young boy growing up in rural Virginia, and the historic summer that would change his life forever. During the summer of 1959, Virginias Prince Edward County is entirely consumed by passionate resistance against, and in other corners, support for, the desegregation of schools as mandated by Brown v. Board of Education.

Benjamin Rome, the 10-year-old son of a chicken farmer in one of the countys small townships, struggles to comprehend the furor that surrounds him, even as he understands the immorality of racial prejudice. Within his own family, opinions are sharply divided, and it is against this charged backdrop that Ben spends the summer working with his friend Burghardt, a black farmhand, under the predatory gaze of Bens grandfather.

While the elders of Prince Edward focus on closing the schools, life ambles on, and Ben grows closer to his pregnant sister, Lainie, and his troubled older brother, Al, while also coming to recognize the painful and inherent limitations of his friendship with Burghardt. Evocative and written with lush historical detail, Prince Edward is a refreshing bildungsroman by bestselling author Dennis McFarland, and a striking portrait of the social upheaval in the American South on the eve of the civil rights movement.

Members Reviews:

They Closed the Schools!

The author has taken an emotional and historic situation and carefully created the perfect story to reveal the truth about life in Prince Edward County, Virginia. This book is a great southern novel, worthy of critical acclaim. Read it and grasp the atmosphere during the transition from segregation to integration in public schools. Through the eyes of a fifth grade boy named Ben, an entire era of southern history is presented.

In 1961 I entered Longwood College, Prince Edward County, Farmville, Virginia, where white females studied to become teachers. It was definitely strange that there were no public schools available in Prince Edward County for student teaching assignments. The reality of the situation has been faithfully presented by Dennis McFarland.

The author did a fine job of researching his story

This book is extremely well-written. I am a retired teacher of US History, and it thoroughly engaged my attention. It described events and emotions in the Southside area of VA, where resistance to school integration was very strong. The author did a fine job of researching his story. My main complaint is that the narrator is only ten years old at the start of the book, and he displays thoughts and insights that would seem to be beyond the understanding of most ten year old kids.

But I might enjoy his writing with a different story line

Way too "wordy".....But I might enjoy his writing with a different story line.

I really enjoyed this book

I really enjoyed this book. It showed the time in all its ugliness and compassion as well. Interesting that the boy sensed that something wasn't right w/ the situation. I love history. We (a young USAF family from New England) were stationed in the deep south at that time. I was too busy raising kids to think about it at the time, but now as I think back...

absorbing read

Interesting historical fiction understating the racial tensions in rural Virginia after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision requiring public school desegregation. Narrated through the mind of a mostly naive 10 year old boy.