John Oliver Killens (1916–1987)

What an incredibly expansive, volatile story! It follows the lives of two very different people growing up Wakefield County, Mississippi in the 1960s. Carrie Louise Wakefield (note the name) was born into white money privilege about the same time as Charles Othello Chaney was born into black poverty servitude. "Chuck" and his family worked as servants for Carrie Louise's extremely wealthy family and would forever be entertwined in each others lives. Over the ever growing turbulent years, show more events like the Vietnam war, the Civil Rights Movement and the death of Malcolm X stoked the fires of racial unrest. Despite Carrie and Chuck's vastly different upbringings they both manage to go to college, see a world larger than little Wakefield County. Black and white becomes more and more complicated. show less

I read this many years ago and remember being completely absorbed in the story. I'm surprised to see there are no ratings of this book on goodreads. If you are interested in historical fiction then this is a must read.

John Oliver Killens's landmark novel of social protest chronicles the lives of the Youngblood family and their friends in Crossroads, Georgia, from the turn of the century to the Great Depression. Its large cast of powerfully affecting characters includes Joe Youngblood, a tragic figure of heroic physical strength; Laurie Lee, his beautiful and strong-willed wife; Richard Myles, a young high school teacher from New York; and Robby, the Youngbloods' son, who takes the large risk of becoming show more involved in the labor movement. show less