The time is 1913-50 years after Lincoln freed the slaves. But in the genteel community of Germantown, PA, freedom is the hollowest of words. Certainly there is no freedom from the shackles of oppression for Theodore "Teenotchy" Simms, a black stableboy at the elegant Holybrook manor, an enclave of unquestioned privilege. He is haunted by the memory of his mother and the terrible violation of her death. He is shadowed as well by the shame of his birth-a shame he doesn't understand but forever feels. He seeks only to fade into the invisibility the town is willing to grant him, until Alexander Blake, a young Englishman with a secret shame of his own, forces Teenotchy to confront his destiny and himself.
I read this book a few years ago. What stood out was the unexpected ending, but not one that left you wondering...one that you never saw coming. Good book, kept me interested the whole way through.
Here's the excerpt from the inside cover as I see this book has no description listed with it:
"The title of Marsha Hunt's extraordinary second novel is imbued with the cruelest irony- and the deepest longing.
The time is 1913-fifty years after Lincoln freed the slaves. But in the genteel community of Germantown, PA, freedom is the hollowest of words.
Certainly there is no freedom from the shackles of oppression for Theodore "Teenotchy" Simms, a black stableboy at the elegant Holybrook manor, in this pre-WWI enclave of unquestioned privilege. He is haunted by the memory of the beauty of his mother and the terrible violation of her death. He is shadowed as well by the shame of his birth- a shame he doesn't understand but forever feels. He can only seek to fit in, to fade into the invisibility whites are more willing to grant him, until a white man with a secret shame of his own cuts off this avenue of escape and forces Teenotchy to confront his destiny and himself.
This man is Alexander Blake, a young English aristocrat on a visit to his aunt and her American husband- a household where the pride and prejudices of the antebellum South flourish on northern soil. In the sweltering heat of a Germantown summer, Alexander's interest in the black stableboy, who is clearly meant for something far better in life, blossoms into an emotions as irresistible as it is dangerous- both for Alexander, who cannot stop it from happening, and for Teenotchy, who for the first time in his life finds himself worthy in the eyes of another.
Here's the excerpt from the inside cover as I see this book has no description listed with it:
"The title of Marsha Hunt's extraordinary second novel is imbued with the cruelest irony- and the deepest longing.
The time is 1913-fifty years after Lincoln freed the slaves. But in the genteel community of Germantown, PA, freedom is the hollowest of words.
Certainly there is no freedom from the shackles of oppression for Theodore "Teenotchy" Simms, a black stableboy at the elegant Holybrook manor, in this pre-WWI enclave of unquestioned privilege. He is haunted by the memory of the beauty of his mother and the terrible violation of her death. He is shadowed as well by the shame of his birth- a shame he doesn't understand but forever feels. He can only seek to fit in, to fade into the invisibility whites are more willing to grant him, until a white man with a secret shame of his own cuts off this avenue of escape and forces Teenotchy to confront his destiny and himself.
This man is Alexander Blake, a young English aristocrat on a visit to his aunt and her American husband- a household where the pride and prejudices of the antebellum South flourish on northern soil. In the sweltering heat of a Germantown summer, Alexander's interest in the black stableboy, who is clearly meant for something far better in life, blossoms into an emotions as irresistible as it is dangerous- both for Alexander, who cannot stop it from happening, and for Teenotchy, who for the first time in his life finds himself worthy in the eyes of another.
