Darkness in Dixie
is a novel from veteran historical novelist Rob Bauer. It's a stunning exposé of a dark chapter of American History you never learned about in school: the re-enslavement of African Americans through the South's prison labor system. This is an unforgettable story that remains achingly relevant in our time.
Alabama, 1899
. Clarence Duval became an orphan at age 6. He's 23 now, has traveled the world, and ridden with the Buffalo Soldiers in Montana. But he's never learned the truth about his family.
One day, a letter from his father arrives, and Clarence travels to Alabama to confront the demons of his past. Soon, however, family demons are the least of his worries. Clarence faces arrest and a sentence of hard labor in the trackless forests of Florida for a crime he never committed. Once in Florida, life becomes a brutal test of survival for Clarence and his fellow convicts.
Unknown to Clarence, Judge Jefferson Winston is on the payroll of a timber company to supply convict laborers on demand. Winston has enemies, though, who plot to bring him down and expose his crimes. A cloak-and-dagger game ensues that soon brings in a host of players, including Judge Winston's beloved daughter, Emily.
Even if Winston's enemies topple him, however, it may not be enough to save Clarence. He and the other convicts soon face a series of desperate challenges, and any wrong choice means death.
pierces the shadows of America's past to drag one of its forgotten historical sins back into the light: the destruction of African Americans by the prison labor system of the South.