Lightwood

by Brainard Cheney, Stephen Whigham (Afterword)

LIGHTWOOD the novel appeared originally in 1939. Set in the piney woods of south Georgia just after the Civil War, it tells the story of a struggle between local land owners and Northern investors. The investors sought to harvest the "wooden treasures" of virgin pine forests. Over time,they used the power of money and the courts to wrest the title to the lands. A labyrinthine legal battle stretched out for more than half a century, culminating in the murder of the Company's land agent, along with as many as 35 more deaths. Based on historical fact, Cheney's novel brings to life a lost time in our history. Reviewed nationally on publication, it highlighted Cheney's friendship and literary connection to many of the Fugitive and Agrarian movement figures. A companion volume, THE LIGHTWOOD CHRONICLES tells both the fictional and true stories of LIGHTWOOD.

Genres: Historical Fiction

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1939

Reviews

[Meleah]

amazon book description: A rousing novel of the post-Civil War era widely praised when published in 1939.

from amazon:

LIGHTWOOD conjures a vivid lost world in this “rebellion in the backlands” tale based on historical fact.

“LIGHTWOOD has the unimpeachable honesty, goodness, flatness, of a mouthful of cold, excellent corn bread.” Time magazine, October, 1939

“A superior novel of the South, exceedingly well-written…” New York Times, 1939

Author Brainard Cheney published LIGHTWOOD in 1939. He based the work on the convoluted events of the Dodge Land Wars in south Georgia just after the Civil War. The war between the 'squatters' and the New York landowners escalated into violence and murder.

[Lloyd Liggett]

This is an historical fiction novel, however it fairly accurately tells the real story of the "land war" that occurred in middle, south Georgia following the Civil War involving the conflicting interest between the long term "settlers" in the "pine barrens and the newly formed New York timber company who claimed ownership over most of the land between between the Ocmulgee and Oconee Rivers, thousands of acres of virgin pine forests. The names of the major "players: have been changed but the circumstances and the violence was real. As a resident of this area of Georgia, it is a very interesting read, especially when one can identify who some of the fictional characters are based on.