By Anna Dase, Read Between the Lines
Title: Brambleman
Author: Jonathan Grant
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Historical Fiction with a Supernatural Twist
Publisher: Thornbriar Press
Release Date: May 14 2012
Edition: Print
The Story
Down-and-out Atlanta writer Charlie Sherman has no idea what madness awaits him when a mysterious stranger convinces him to finish a dead man’s book about a horrific crime that’s gone unpunished for decades. What Charlie inherits is an unwieldy manuscript about the mob-driven expulsion of more than 1,000 blacks from Forsyth County, Georgia in 1912. During the course of his work, Charlie uncovers a terrible secret involving a Forsyth County land grab. Due to its proximity to Atlanta, the stolen farm is now worth $20 million-and a sale is pending. When he finds the land’s rightful owner, Charlie becomes convinced he’s been chosen by a Higher Power to wreak justice and vengeance on those who profit from evil. And then things go horribly wrong.
Historical Background
Forsyth County, famous as the birthplace of Hee-Haw’s Junior Samples, has for most of the past century, existed as an intentionally all-white community bordering the black Mecca of Atlanta since 1912, following one of the 20th century’s most violent racist outrages-including lynching, nightriding, and arson. In 1987, the sleepy community gained notoriety when a small march led by civil rights firebrand Hosea Williams was broken up by rock- and bottle-throwing Klansmen, neo-Nazis, and their sympathizers. Bloody but unbowed, Williams returned the next week with 25,000 followers in one of largest civil rights marches in history. There was talk of reparations. Oprah came. Protests and counter-protests yielded a landmark Supreme Court case on free speech. But most importantly, white people flocked to Forsyth. It became the fastest- growing county in the nation, the richest one in Georgia, and one of the twenty wealthiest in the U.S.
My Thoughts
Wow this was an long novel but worth the read. Jonathan will take you on (the) suspense-filled ride of your life. So sit back and get comfortable as our journey is with Charlie, a stay-at-home dad and down-on-his-luck writer, who was kicked out of his home by his wife, who told him he was a failure at life. Well that is … about to change when Charlie gets presented with a deal that seems to good to be true. (They generally are to good to be true.) Things for Charlie after accepting the proposal are good at first, but they take a turn for the worst. Charlie finds himself in some really dark places that he fights his way through while trying to unravel the events of the professor’s manuscript. Charlie not only discovers some unsettling facts about Forsyth County, but he discovers things about himself. I keep all my reviews spoiler-free but take my word for it (and) go get your self a copy of Brambleman today. And discover the history between the races of Forsyth County in 1912. Jonathan weaves real-life events with a fictional story that is bound to keep you intrigued. I will say I loved the way the story unravels and how Charlie’s character continues to develop to the very end.
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