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A Novel
by Nancy Peacock
The epic journey of a slave-turned-Comanche warrior who travels from the brutality of a New Orleans sugar cane plantation to the indomitable frontier of an untamed Texas, searching not only for the woman he loves but so too for his own identity.
I have been to hangings before, but never my own.
Sitting in a jail cell on the eve of his hanging, April 1, 1875, freedman Persimmon "Persy" Wilson wants nothing more than to leave some record of the truth—his truth. He may be guilty, but not of what he stands accused: the kidnapping and rape of his former master's wife.
In 1860, Persy had been sold to Sweetmore, a Louisiana sugar plantation, alongside a striking, light-skinned house slave named Chloe. Their deep and instant connection fueled a love affair and inspired plans to escape their owner, Master Wilson, who claimed Chloe as his concubine. But on the eve of the Union Army's attack on New Orleans, Wilson shot Persy, leaving him for dead, and fled with Chloe and his other slaves to Texas. So began Persy's journey across the frontier, determined to reunite with his lost love. Along the way, he would be captured by the Comanche, his only chance of survival to prove himself fierce and unbreakable enough to become a warrior. His odyssey of warfare, heartbreak, unlikely friendships, and newfound family would change the very core of his identity and teach him the meaning and the price of freedom.
From the author of the New York Times Notable Book Life Without Water, The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson is a sweeping love story that "is as deeply moving and exciting an American saga as has ever been penned" (Lee Smith, author of Dimestore).
Originally published by the author in 2013.
"A beautiful, heartbreaking tale of slavery that features a relatable cast of characters."
"This is storytelling at its finest and most evocative ... The first-person narrative drives home the feeling of walking in Persimmon's shoes...Readers will fly through the pages until reaching the end with sadness and satisfaction." - RT Book Reviews
"Peacock's story is unflinching and, at times, brutally violent. Persy and the characters he meets during his travels are compelling and multifaceted... The slave narrative aspect of the novel is engaging, particularly the description of Persy's experience living with the Comanche." - Historical Novel Reviews
"It's happened yet again. Someone has written a powerful novel... Readers who enjoyed such works as Cold Mountain will definitely revel in this moving odyssey about a man whose journey and search lead him to a remarkable self-discovery and an understanding of the powers of love and the depth of the human spirit." - Newport Plain Talk
"The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson is a magnificent, immersive, breathtaking work of historical fiction. Nancy Peacock has written a beautifully crafted, richly detailed novel inhabited by morally complex and fully realized characters, enthralling and heartbreaking in equal measure." -
Jennifer Chiaverini, New York Times bestselling author of Fates and Traitors and Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker
"This extraordinary novel, part Cold Mountain, part Dances With Wolves, is a love story, a thriller, an epic adventure tale, and impossible to put down. Nancy Peacock writes with power and lyricism, creating characters who come to vivid life and whose struggles grip the soul. Deeply in the American grain, The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson is a tour de force of historical fiction." - Henry Wiencek, author of Master of the Mountain
" 'I have been to hangings before, but never my own…' From this riveting beginning to the last perfect word, Nancy Peacock grabs her reader by the throat and makes him hang on for dear life as the action moves from a Louisiana sugar plantation to life among the western Comanches, bringing to blazing life her themes of race and true love caught in the throes of history. The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson is as deeply moving and exciting an American saga as has ever been penned." - Lee Smith, author of Guests on Earth and Dime Store
This information about The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Nancy Peacock is the author of the novels Life Without Water and Home Across the Road, as well as the memoir, A Broom of One's Own: Words on Writing, Housecleaning, and Life. She currently teaches writing classes and workshops in and around Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband Ben.
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