Skip to main content

Charleston

Review

Charleston

"Beauty was Alex's first, best memory of her childhood: the beauty of the sun-struck harbor, the white sails of ships bound for exotic ports...She loved the sight of men casting shrimp nets from sturdy piraguas or spearing flatfish by lantern light. She loved the mockingbirds perched on the pittosporum, guarding their nests and trilling their song; the great blue herons standing still as statuary...the steamy shade of summer; the rattle of rain on palmetto fronds."

Charleston, South Carolina is one of the quintessential southern cities that has formed our picturesque image of a bygone era. It's home to 300-year-old plantations, a bustling harbor, historic Fort Sumter, and The Citadel. It's the romantic ideal of southern belles and horse-drawn carriages, magnolia blossoms, and mint juleps on the verandah. Yet beneath this charming visualization lie the ugly scars of a beleaguered history --- a century of social and political strife that not only shaped the city of Charleston but much of our country as well. John Jakes revisits the decades of the American Revolution and the Civil War to tell the story of a city and it's people caught in a vise between profitable English alliances and the emerging moral issue of slavery.

The Bell family of Charleston had humble beginnings but rose to become influential in social and political circles. Thomas Bell, a successful businessman and plantation owner, sympathizes with the patriot cause, an unhealthy position to take in such turbulent times. His son, Edward, influenced by both his father and his future wife, Joanna, takes an active part in the Revolutionary War as well, eventually joining forces with the infamous "Swamp Fox," Francis Marion. Like many families, the emotional and financial issues created as a consequence of war with England drive a wedge between brothers, and Adrian Bell declares his loyalty for the English forces that are laying siege to Charleston. And along with the brewing storm of patriot versus partisan, the jealous malevolence of Adrian's wife Lydia spawns a deep-seated hatred that will impact future generations with tragic consequences.

Although CHARLESTON revolves primarily around the generations of Bells, there are other families whose progeny are pivotal in the dramatic developments. Daniel Poorly, a lifelong slave, is granted emancipation for his wife and son by his heroic actions in the Revolutionary War --- years later his grandson, Henry, will face serious consequences from a forbidden love. The offspring of a scoundrel, Ladimer Lark, are proof that the acorn falls close to the tree as they perpetuate a family tradition of thievery and murder. Slave and owner, martyr and assassin, unionist and separatist --- lives intersect on this historic stage, their destinies molded and shaped by rising tensions between North and South that will culminate in a prolonged civil war.

The aftermath of a century of bitter bloodletting is to bring lofty idealism to it's knees and destruction to the beautiful city of Alexandra Bell's childhood. What parades as a moral victory leaves behind a devastated citizenry festering with a rage that will take another century to heal. John Jakes's magnificent dramatization of the people of Charleston and the times in which they lived marks another milestone in the prolific career of this remarkable storyteller who has been justly christened "the godfather of historical novelists." CHARLESTON is equal shares of innocence and intrigue, love and scorn, enlightening detail and abundant imagination. What more could you possibly want?

Reviewed by Ann Bruns([email protected]) on January 21, 2011

Charleston
by John Jakes

  • Publication Date: July 1, 2003
  • Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction
  • Mass Market Paperback: 532 pages
  • Publisher: Signet
  • ISBN-10: 0451207335
  • ISBN-13: 9780451207333