{"product_id":"black-cloud-rising-9780802160393","title":"Black Cloud Rising","description":"\u003cb\u003eAlready excerpted in the \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBlack Cloud Rising\u003c\/i\u003e is a compelling and important historical novel that takes us back to an extraordinary moment when enslaved men and women were shedding their bonds and embracing freedom\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy fall of 1863, Union forces had taken control of Tidewater Virginia, and established a toehold in eastern North Carolina, including along the Outer Banks. Thousands of freed slaves and runaways flooded the Union lines, but Confederate irregulars still roamed the region. In December, the newly formed African Brigade, a unit of these former slaves led by General Edward Augustus Wild--a one-armed, impassioned Abolitionist--set out from Portsmouth to hunt down the rebel guerillas and extinguish the threat.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom this little-known historical episode comes \u003ci\u003eBlack Cloud Rising\u003c\/i\u003e, a dramatic, moving account of these soldiers--men who only weeks earlier had been enslaved, but were now Union infantrymen setting out to fight their former owners. At the heart of the narrative is Sergeant Richard Etheridge, the son of a slave and her master, raised with some privileges but constantly reminded of his place. Deeply conflicted about his past, Richard is eager to show himself to be a credit to his race. As the African Brigade conducts raids through the areas occupied by the Confederate Partisan Rangers, he and his comrades recognize that they are fighting for more than territory. Wild's mission is to prove that his troops can be trusted as soldiers in combat. And because many of the men have fled from the very plantations in their path, each raid is also an opportunity to free loved ones left behind. For Richard, this means the possibility of reuniting with Fanny, the woman he hopes to marry one day.\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith powerful depictions of the bonds formed between fighting men and heartrending scenes of sacrifice and courage, \u003ci\u003eBlack Cloud Rising\u003c\/i\u003e offers a compelling and nuanced portrait of enslaved men and women crossing the threshold to freedom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Wright Faladé\u003c\/b\u003e is a professor of English at the University of Illinois and the Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellow at the New York Public Library's Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. He is the co-author of the young adult novel \u003ci\u003eAway Running\u003c\/i\u003e and author of the nonfiction book \u003ci\u003eFire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers\u003c\/i\u003e, which was a \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e notable selection and a \u003ci\u003eSt. Louis-Dispatch\u003c\/i\u003e Best Book of 2001. The recipient of the Zora Neale Hurston\/Richard Wright Award, he has written for the \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eVillage Voice\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eSouthern Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNewsday\u003c\/i\u003e, and more.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Grove Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50705742594322,"sku":"9780802160393","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8bad44e6-df2c-432f-9fbc-1b866ce28dd3.jpg?v=1734488364","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/black-cloud-rising-9780802160393","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}