THE COLONEL’S DREAM

Returning from New York City to his North Carolina home at the end of Reconstruction, Colonel French, a former Confederate officer, is shocked by the conditions of both blacks and whites. Using his new fortune, he begins renovating the schools, rebuilding a cotton mill, and fighting the practice of “enslaving” blacks to plantations. Kevin R. Free’s quiet narration enlivens Chesnutt’s book about the failures of Reconstruction and the South’s struggle to find purpose and prosperity. Free creates subtle Southern accents for the high-born whites, thicker accents for the poor whites, and dialect for the blacks. The book was written in 1905 and recognized in 1928 by the NAACP. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 06]