About this book
In a stifling sickroom, a proud man fears losing both his wife and the future of his family name.
Major Carteret waits beside Olivia as a dangerous childbirth threatens their long hope for a child. Outside, frogs and cicadas break the stillness; inside, magnolias scent the air. His newspaper, the Morning Chronicle, gives him political power, but none of that influence can ease his fear.
Downstairs, Dr. Price listens as Jane, the Black nurse who once cared for Olivia, recalls the household’s past. Her story brings forward Polly Ochiltree and a struggle over who controls the home. In The Marrow of Tradition, Charles W. Chesnutt explores race, power, and justice in the South after Reconstruction.
What you’ll discover
- An anxious bedside vigil Feel the strain as Carteret holds Olivia’s hand and waits through the oppressive heat.
- Pride behind political power Meet a newspaper owner whose public influence rests on his wife’s wealth.
- A nurse’s long memory Listen to Jane connect the present crisis with old tensions inside Olivia’s family.
- A household power struggle Watch Polly demand authority over the home and insist that its housekeeper, Julia, leave.
- Race and private loyalties Consider how care, dependence, and unequal power share space within a single household.
What’s inside
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- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Das Mark der Tradition in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Read it side by side
Das Mark der Tradition
by Charles W. Chesnutt· 1901
Two Southern families face racial violence and divided loyalties.
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Language: Deutsch
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