Free Spirits
The Story of Cadet Ruffin, His Mother and the Underground Railroad
by Grant Simpson
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Pub Date 25 Jun 2017 | Archive Date 12 Jan 2018
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Description
A compelling and historically accurate novel about the Underground Railroad seen through the eyes of a young man caught between black and white worlds.
Boston, 1859. West Point Cadet Jack Ruffin, raised in high
(white) society, learns that his real mother was a slave. Now the clock is
ticking on his desperate journey to find her and to help her escape with the
help of the Underground Railroad – an ingenious organisation dedicated to spiriting runaway slaves to freedom.
The reader moves between black and white worlds – the world of slavery, slave markets, free blacks (Freedmen) and the Underground Railroad. The world of white society (North and South) peopled by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ralph Waldo Emerson and his daughter Ellen, with whom Jack is in love. And the world of planters, slave traders, slave catchers and the Patrol whose job it was to keep the slaves in their place. The book also introduces the reader to the pre-American-Civil War South, its people and traditions, from the point of view of those resisting slavery and the institutions (formal and informal), which nourished it.
You meet Grace, a Harriet Tubman-like figure who is the founder of several branches of the Underground Railroad. You meet Tracker, Grace's eyes and ears. You will see them operate in hostile territory in a bid to assist Jack in securing his mother’s freedom. You will meet the members of the Patrol and see their methods, their desperate and casual cruelty as they struggle to keep slaves in bondage and rush against time to thwart Jack.
Through Jack, you see all these worlds, as if for the first time, in fast-paced action as it rushes to its dramatic and heart-rending conclusion.
About the Author
Grant Simpson is a Barrister and QC in England who, in 1971–75, was a Morehead Scholar studying American History, Journalism and Literature (and campaigning for civil rights) at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His connections to UNC and his love of American history still remain strong. He is a member of the Ulysses Grant Association and has spent time researching at the Ulysses Grant Presidential Library at Starkville Mississippi. He lives in London and St Andrews.
Available Editions
EDITION | Paperback |
ISBN | 9781912299027 |
PRICE | £8.99 (GBP) |
Featured Reviews
This book was interesting and well researched. I enjoy reading about slavery during the Civil War and the Underground Railroad.
Pub Date 25 Jun 2017
Thank you to NetGalley and Cameron Publicity & Marketing Ltd for a review copy in exchange for my honest review.
The Underground Railroad, slave patrols to keep blacks in their place on the plantations of their owners, the struggle for freedom, all stand as the backdrop for this well written, fast paced novel. Very well researched and accurate.
Highly recommend this novel of historical fiction. Well written, well researched, and a story of love. Set during the the most shameful time in American history.... 1860’s slavery. It tells the story of people who gained freedom with a price, people who faked who they were for survival, and the meaning of true love. A book for the ages. Kudos to the author.
This is a great story about the Underground Railroad. Over the years I have read many books dealing with this subject, some very vividly descriptive of the horror and others geared for a much younger audience. This book would be a good one for anyone over the age of 15 or 16. The characters working for the Underground Railroad vary from escaped slaves and freemen, to doctors, teachers, lawyers and simple farmers. The idea that even if the slaves were treated well, they were still prisoners emanates from this story. Of course the risks that both the slaves and those helping them escape took were immense and it could cost them both their lives. The fact that the females were okay to have relations with, but the children resulting from this were not only their offspring but still their property to sell or do what they wanted with. The main character of Jack Ruffin was an interesting character and of course this could actually have happened. He was actually 1/8 negro so could pass easily for white, especially with his adoptive parents being white and very respected in the community. He wasn't as strong physically as some of those he rescued, but he certainly was determined and loyal to the cause. Tracker, a freed black man was also integral to the story as well as Grace. You will see some famous names in this story as they also believed in the Underground Railroad. Overall, a very good story with a lot of details that were well researched. This would make a wonderful book to be read in a junior high classroom studying this period in time. A book that everyone should read to learn about this terrible time in history.
An exceptionally well written read about the underground railroad and those involved with it.
There is a lot to take in with this read and those involved with the release of the slaves.
Such an excellent and we'll characterised book I am tongue tied and unable to describe it fully.
All I can say is ready it, it will be worth your time and effort.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review. If you are interested in the Underground Railway and the people who aided slaves to escape tyranny in brave and clever ways, this book is for you.
Apart from the frequent typos, which became distracting after a while, this book is extremely written. Although it's a fictionalised account, it combines plenty of fact to satisfy historians. It's a great novel about a part of history I knew nothing about.
Readers who liked this book also liked:
Charles Dickens; Clement C. Moore; Hans Christian Andersen; Carolyn Sherwin Bailey; Frances Jenkins Olcott; Helen G Ricks; Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman; Leslie Pinckney Hill; O Henry
General Fiction (Adult), Historical Fiction, Religion & Spirituality