The Twelve-Mile Straight: Eleanor Henderson - Softcover

Henderson, Eleanor

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0008158703 ISBN 13: 9780008158705

Publisher: Fourth Estate, 2018

Synopsis

‘Eleanor Henderson is in possession of an enormous talent’ Ann Patchett

‘A superb novel whose roots can be traced to Harper Lee and Carson McCullers‘ Oprah Magazine

Genus Jackson was killed in Cotton County, Georgia, on a summer midnight in 1930, when the newborn twins were fast asleep.

They lay head to toe in a cradle meant for one, Winnafred on one side and Wilson on the other. Only if you looked closely – and people did – could you see that the girl was pink as a piglet, and the boy was brown.

At once an intimate family drama and an expansive, mesmerising epic The Twelve-Mile Straight explores the blood, guilt and violence that lies at the heart of the American experience.

Despite the prying eyes and curious whispers of the townspeople, Elma begins to raise her babies as best as she can, under the roof of her impulsive father, Juke, and with the help of Nan, the young black housekeeper who is as close to Elma as a sister. It soon becomes clear that the ties that bind all of them together are more intricate than any could have imagined. A web of lies begins to collapse around the family, destabilizing their precarious world and forcing all to reckon with the truth.

About this title

Review:

‘Eleanor Henderson is a novelist who is clearly suited to the expansive mode, and her labyrinthine plot never wants for twists and turns. Nuanced and compassionate, hers is a sweeping tale of uncompromising brutality, which is finally offset by a faint, but hugely welcome, glimmer of light’ Daily Mail

‘A rich, complex narrative that moves skilfully back and forth in time, unfolding the histories and secrets of those involved. The wounds of America’s racial past have provided the subject for some excellent novels in recent years and Henderson’s book is an impressive addition to their number’ The Times

‘An ambitious and sprawling Southern Gothic tale’ Emerald Street

‘Riveting ... plunges you into the Jim Crow South with stunning fierceness ... Henderson immerses you in characters worthy of Flannery O’Connor ... A masterful piece of storytelling’ Seattle Times

‘Devastating ... Filled with twists and turns, this book gives an intimate and heartbreaking look at America’s ugly history of racial violence’ Shondaland

‘Affecting, profound ... this story resonates deeply in our current political climate’ Nylon

‘Provocative and important ... These stories linger under the skin ... Henderson puts the stories of African-Americans back into the narrative ... The Twelve-Mile Straight, although shouldering complicated themes in history, is a timeless novel’ Ithaca Times

‘The characters are so vivid that you will feel as though they exist unbound by the pages of the book; the writing is so extraordinary it will make your teeth ache; the story is so compelling that you may gasp out loud―as I did―as the revelations unfold. This is no ordinary novel. It is art of the highest order’ Cristina Henríquez

‘An intricate and fascinating tale of maternity and paternity, of race and blood, of two young women doing what they must do to survive ... confronted with unblinking honesty and woven with intelligence and grace’ Christopher Tilghman

From the Back Cover:

Cotton County, Georgia, 1930: In a house full of secrets, two babies--one light-skinned, the other dark--are born to Elma Jesup, a white sharecropper's daughter. Accused of raping Elma, field hand Genus Jackson is lynched and dragged behind a truck down the Twelve-Mile Straight, the road to the nearest town. In the aftermath, the farm's inhabitants are forced to contend with their complicity in a series of events that left a man dead and a family irrevocably fractured.

Despite the prying eyes and curious whispers of the townspeople, Elma begins to raise her babies as best she can, under the roof of her mercurial father, Juke, and with the help of Nan, the young black housekeeper who is as close to Elma as a sister. But soon it becomes clear that the ties that bind all of them together are more intricate than any could have ever imagined. As startling revelations mount, a web of lies begins to collapse around the family, destabilizing their precarious world and forcing all to reckon with the painful truth.

New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Henderson has returned with an audacious American epic that combines the intimacy of a family drama with the staggering presence of a great Southern saga. Set in the years of the Depression and Prohibition, and tackling themes of racialized violence, social division, and financial crisis, The Twelve-Mile Straight is a startlingly timely, emotionally resonant, and magnificent tour de force.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0008158703
• ISBN 13: 9780008158705
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 560