Winner Amer. Historical Fiction-The PERSONAL HISTORY of RACHEL DuPREE

Ann Weisgarber's award winning novel The PERSONAL HISTORY of RACHEL DuPREE tells the riveting tale of the little known subject of black frontiers who staked claims out west at the turn of the 20thC.  It is a fascinating amalgamation of Stagner's ANGEL of REPOSE, Sinclair's The JUNGLE, Wilkerson's The WARMTH of OTHER SUNS and Baldwin's The FIRE NEXT TIME.  It NEEDS to be included in our school's syllabus along with the afore mentioned works.  Added to this required reading should be historic accounts of the monstrosities inflicted on our Native American Indians.  The PERSONAL HISTORY…is the remarkable story of Rachel, a black woman working in a black boarding house in Chicago. The men all work in the city's infamous slaughterhouses.  Rachel's family were among the many black families who migrated to the big cities seeking a better life. "Whitemen were hanging Negroes…kicking down doors telling people to get out of town and then setting fire to their houses."  Rachel meets Isaac, the son of the black boarding house owner.  Isaac's mother has plans for her son Isaac that do NOT entail him marrying the too dark, uneducated Rachel from a lower working class family.  Isaac's own driving plan is to gain as much land as possible under the Homestead Act signed by Pres Lincoln in 1862.  The Homestead Act allotted land claims to anyone, male/female, former slave - all except those who fought for the Confederacy.  The entire novel is an absorbing & compelling history lesson woven into a riveting tale of hardships in the barren S Dakota badlands within a troubled marriage. The informed lessons delivered without preaching depict the  destructive, hateful prejudices & injustices pervasive throughout our nation's history. "Some people carry hate, looks like.  They don't need a reason to hurt somebody."  The vital insights gleamed from this brilliant anthology is of humanity and compassion.