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Charleston
by John Jakes
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The Bell family saga begins in a South Carolina divided by the American Revolution. Edward Bell fights beside Francis Marion, but independence does not resolve the contradictions of a society built on slavery. Later generations inherit property, status and family secrets that bind their fortunes to Charleston and the plantation economy.
Through the antebellum crisis and the Civil War, Edgar and Alexandra Bell take opposing positions on slavery, loyalty and the survival of their city. The family’s private conflicts unfold among enslaved people, freedpeople, aristocrats and common soldiers as Union war reaches Charleston. The novel links the revolutionary language of liberty to the long struggle over who was excluded from it.
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