Leather Goods for Outdoor Enthusiasts

This is far more than a legal thriller, though it certainly is that as well. Some of the events described in this tale will sound disturbingly familiar to readers in the 21st century, making the lessons it holds all the more important to consider. The power of great fiction is its ability to bring history to life, and this is one of those times when it succeeds in doing so.

• Frye Gaillard, Civil Rights Historian, Author of A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s

On July 5, 1900, in Wilkes County, North Carolina, the beautiful young daughter of tannery owner Jakob Schumann is found dead on the north bank of the Yadkin River. She has been brutally beaten, with a skinning knife protruding from her chest.

Who killed Rachel Schumann, and why? The ambitious local prosecutor, Vincent Taliaferro, has arrested a mixed-race boy named Virgil Wade, and is convinced the case is an open-and-shut affair. However, local lawyer Ben Waterman is not quite so sure. His investigation uncovers evidence that undermines the prosecutor's case and points in an entirely different direction. But can he prove Virgil's innocence to an all-white, all-male jury?

"The Tannery" transports readers to the turbulent world of the post-Reconstruction South. Reflecting issues prominent in today's headlines, the narrative is driven by themes of black voter suppression and intimidation, the violence and depravity of vigilante "justice," and the rise of Jim Crow. The story builds to a dramatic and surprising conclusion, leaving the reader to consider the powerful lessons it holds.

This is not merely a legal thriller, but a work of great fiction that brings history to life. The events it describes may sound all too familiar, reminding us of the importance of confronting the past in order to better understand the present. As Frye Gaillard notes, this is one of those times when the power of storytelling can truly make history come alive.

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