Nancy Peacock

The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson by Nancy Peacock is an engrossing novel that follows the life of a former slave as he searches for the love of his life, Chloe. They have been cruelly separated by their former master and all Persey knows is that Mastah Wilson and Chloe are in Texas. The story is narrated by Persimmon from a jail cell where he awaits his hanging, charged with the murder of a white man and of raping and kidnapping his wife. But as his story unfolds we are shown that not everything is as it seems and our sympathy shifts entirely to Persimmon.

The story covers Persey’s slave years working on a sugar plantation in Louisiana, and being in love with Chloe, a light skinned fellow slave, who was taken to the big house and kept there as a plaything for the Master. They meet secretly and dream of the day that they will be free and able to be together. Meanwhile the Civil War rages on and the Yankees are getting closer. Before the Yankees arrive, the Master packs everything up and flees to Texas. He has suspicions about Persey and Chloe and so shoots Persey leaving him for dead. Persey spends years searching for Chloe, he spends time in the Union Army, works on a ranch, wanders Texas and is captured and becomes a Comanche and then, one day, he comes face to face with Mastah Wilson.

The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson is first and foremost a tragic love story, but with both it’s timing and it’s setting it is also a remarkable novel of historical fiction. It is a story of hope, perseverance, violence and love. The author realistically portrays the brutality of slave life and the desperation of slave owners by the end of the Civil War. This gripping story of a black man’s bittersweet journey is beautifully written and I highly recommend it.… (mer)