Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother's Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.13 (619 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0316337544 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 432 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-04-11 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
She lives in Roanoke, VA. Her work has appeared in national magazines and newspapers and The Roanoke Times, where her reporting has won more than a dozen national awards, including a Nieman Fellowship for Journalism at Harvard and the Lukas Prize from the Columbia School of Journalism. . Beth Macy writes about outsiders and underdogs, and she is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Factory Man
The year was 1899 and the place a sweltering tobacco farm in the Jim Crow South town of Truevine, Virginia. They were global superstars in a pre-broadcast era. George and Willie Muse were two little boys born to a sharecropper family. But the very root of their success was in the color of their skin and in the outrageous caricatures they were forced to assume: supposed cannibals, sheep-headed freaks, even "Ambassadors from Mars." Back home, their mother never accepted that they were "gone" and spent 28 years trying to get them back.Through hundreds of interviews and decades of research, Beth Macy expertly explores a central and difficult qu
She never gave up hope, however, and nearly three decades later they were reunited, setting off a protracted legal battle, the result of which ensured that her sons would be paid their due. --Erin Kodicek, The Book Review. George and Willie Muse traveled the world, even performing for the Queen of England, while their mother remained in the Jim Crow South, not knowing where and how they were. It’s a multi-layered story that will captivate, haunt, and challenge you. It’s almost easier to believe that her ch
"The very fact that I have been able to live my life NOT acknowledging this terrible history in my hometown is proof of my white" according to Amazon Customer. I have followed Beth Macy's writing for decades. She was a feature writer for my local newspaper, and I always looked forward to her articles. So I knew she would tell a compelling story in her new book "Truevine" -- the story of two albino African-American brothers exploited by the circus in the early 20th century. But I didn't expect to learn more about myself in the process.In part, I learned how oblivious I have been. I have lived all these years in Roanoke only having a an idea that the truths of racism existed. I can recall the unrest at my elementary and middle. Terrific Historical read, loved it! I enjoyed this book and though it was a bit different than I was expecting, I learned so much about the curcus, exploitation of people with disabilities and deformaties. I live in Roanoke, Virginia, and to this day, sadly, it remains very much a segregated city. I've often wondered why it is so, and this book actually helped me understand why, starting from how Roanoke came to be, from a village of 500 people. It started up geographically segregated, and racial tensions were extremely high , including every citizen, I'm those days.The story of the brothers touched me,. This book is an eye opener Book Club Member From the subtitle of this month's book club selection, I assumed I would be reading an interesting story of two brothers who were kidnapped and subjected to some sort of racism, but wow! "Truevine" gives the reader so much more than that. Beth Macy's meticulously researched book tells the poignant tale of two African-American albino brothers who were separated from their family and forced to perform as freaks in circuses. The book also delves into a topic that makes many white readers uncomfortable. Macy paints a disturbing portrait that reveals that even after the Ci