The Sweet Hell Inside
The Rise of an Elite Black Family in the Segregated South
On Sale: 11/05/2002
The Sweet Hell Inside
The Rise of an Elite Black Family in the Segregated South
On Sale: 11/05/2002
Format:
About the Book
From National Book Award winner Edward Ball comes The Sweet Hell Inside, the story of the fascinating Harleston family of South Carolina, the progeny of a Southern gentleman and his slave, who cast off their blemished roots and prospered despite racial barriers. Enhanced by recollections from the family's archivist, eighty-four-year-old Edwina Harleston Whitlock -- whose bloodline the author shares. The Sweet Hell Inside features a celebrated portrait artist whose subjects included industrialist Pierre du Pont; a black classical composer in the Lost Generation of 1920s Paris; and an orphanage founder who created the famous Jenkins Orphanage Band, a definitive force in the development of ragtime and jazz.
With evocative and engrossing storytelling, Edward Ball introduces a cast of historical characters rarely seen before: cultured, vain, imperfect, rich, and black -- a family of eccentrics who defied social convention and flourished.
Critical Praise
“Ball is a graceful storyteller, deftly weaving individual experience into social and historical trends.” — O Magazine
“A striking contribution, filling in some important gaps in America’s often uneasy racial dialogue...Ball has done a masterful job.” — Washington Post Book World
“Excellent (and highly readable)...an absorbing story” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Impressively researched and fascinatingly told” — The State (Columbia, SC)
One of the top ten nonfiction books of 2001 — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“A striking contribution, filling in some important gaps in America’s often uneasy racial dialogue...Ball has done a masterful job. — Washington Post Book World
“Thoroughly engrossing…Ball’s earlier book, Slaves in the Family, earned him a National Book Award. This one is even better.” — Seattle Times
-Product Details
- ISBN: 9780060505905
- ISBN 10: 0060505907
- Imprint: William Morrow Paperbacks
- On Sale: 11/05/2002
- Pages: 432
- List Price:31.00 CAD
- BISAC1 : SOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies
- BISAC2 : BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Cultural Heritage
- BISAC3 : HISTORY / United States / 20th Century
- BISAC4 : HISTORY / United States / 19th Century