Banks, Russell

A novel on John Brown, the slavery abolitionist, narrated by one of his 20 children. The narrator is his son Owen, who fought at his father's side and he tells the story in a series of letters to a biographer. Owen describes his father as a loving family man and provides insight into Brown's motives for becoming an abolitionist, including business failures.

Banks tells a story that begins with a school bus accident. Using four different narrators, he creates a small town morality play that addresses one of life's most agonizing questions: when the worst thing happens, who do you blame?