Makes The Story And Characters Feel Real

• Date: 28.01.2009
• Book: Cradle of a Nation: A Story of Colonial Virginia
• Author: plappen

Review

Cradle of a Nation: A Story of Colonial Virginia, Diana M. Johnson, 2006, ISBN 0966150449

Set in 1700s Virginia, this is one family’s story in Colonial America, before words like "revolution" and "independence" sweep the land.

If there is such a thing as a "good" slave owner, that’s William Daingerfield. Early in the book, he finds his white overseer mercilessly beating a slave without his consent. Not only does he stop the beating, and do what he can to nurse the slave back to health, he fires the overseer, and has him thrown in jail. This being a tobacco plantation, when harvest time comes, he is not afraid to get dirty in the fields, alongside his slaves.

This story is told by young Will Daingerfield, and Davy, his personal servant. Despite that master/slave wall between them, having grown up together, they are nearly inseparable. Will is sent to the William and Mary Grammar School to get an education, and Davy goes with him. Allowed to sit in on Will’s classes, still as his personal servant, Davy ends up getting educated, and learning how to read. Later, Will asks Davy why he doesn’t talk better, now that he’s educated. Davy basically says that if other whites don’t get on his case, and even threaten to kill him, for trying to "act" white, his fellow slaves will.

Back at the plantation, the years pass. Will becomes master of the plantation, and there are marriages, births and deaths, including both of Will’s parents. Will’s first wife, Catherine, dies in childbirth. A number of years previously, at a fancy ball, when Will was a teenager, he met a child named Apphia, who boldly said that one day she was going to marry Will. Well, "one day" has come, and as Wife #2, she bears Will several children. Years later, Will’s son, and Davy’s son, join the Virginia army to fight the French and Indians to keep Virginia’s access to the Ohio River valley. Both Will and Davy realize that things have come full circle, that they are getting on in years, and, every day, hope and pray to see their sons coming up the road.

At the end of this book, the author mentions that the characters in this book were real people. The author still does her usual excellent job at making the characters and story feel real. It is an interesting story, and is very much worth reading.