When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed

by Bradley Greenburg

The end of slavery is no guarantee of freedom. When Clayton McGhee journeys north with his parents and grandparents in search of a new life, they must build a homestead with their own labor and defend their right to own land from deep-rooted prejudice. Thirty years later, Clayton is still forced to defend his livelihood and his family's safety from racism and greed. But life is more complex now. When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed is a riveting adventure story about fathers and sons, and the difficult moral choices that resound down the generations as America moves slowly towards freedom and equality after the death of Lincoln.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

342 pages, Paperback

First published June 19, 2014

Reviews

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this novel but I think it perhaps loses its way partway through. The central character is Clayton, son of former slave James who sets out to a new town determined to get some land and start over. They manage to secure a farm which needs a lot of work, and a good many chapters are devoted to the work being carried out, before trouble starts brewing and they end up killing a white man who has come to try and root them out, and who has killed both of Clayton's grandparents in the process. But this happens rather quickly and they just bury him and move on, with the book then jumping 20-plus years to where Clayton is an adult with children, still trying to protect his land and his family from white people looking to claim the land for themselves. But this is where things start to lose their way a bit, for me, with the perspective jumping to Henderson, the son of a Klan member who wants the land for building a railroad. But it's all a little muddled and the final chapter sees Henderson's mum, a woman reliant on opiates, murder his father so he can secure a better life elsewhere, and he goes to Clayton's farm to try and see if he can get any financial help from him to help him do that. An enjoyable story but I would have preferred it to have stayed with Clayton, to be honest.

[Jeanne Norberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the book but have questions for the author. What is fact or at least strong supposition in this book? Specific places and people are named. Did a KKK-style group really meet at Lafayette Tent and Awning, which still operates in this city? Did a boxing match and murder take place at Tecumseh Trails Park? Was Wendell Trumwater real or fictional? Did the Courier really tout the boxing match? Are the McGhees fictional? Judah Furnish?

My book group lives in Lafayette, Ind., the setting for this book.

[LucyV · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written story about an African American family that moves to Indiana to try to begin a new life after the civil war. Told over decades, the family grows up and a new kind of prejudice begins. Friendships are forged and betrayed and a family must stand its ground for what is right.

[Robert J Kinsloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not really my genre but was pleasantly surprised. Very well written and great ending.

[Peter Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the majority of the book but thought the last third / ending quite disappointing.

[Cheryl Gatling]

I picked up this book because of the nice poetic title, and because of the nice touch that the writing on the cover is purple, that is, lilac colored. I should have paid closer attention to the blurb, where it says, the end of slavery is no guarantee of freedom. As I read, a feeling of dread came over me that terrible things were going to happen. And they did. But it could have been worse.

At the end of the Civil War, a black family, three generations, saves up all their money and moves to Indiana, where they buy a small farm. The farm is cheap because it has run down. They have to rebuild from scratch. The men cut trees in the forest that they will shape into boards themselves. The women dig a garden by hand. Clayton McGhee is a child when this happens. The McGhees know that not everyone welcomes them, but they figure they can keep to themselves and not bother anybody, only rarely going in to town for supplies.

Naturally, the bitter and resentful of the town come out to them. The McGhees, who have made friends with the Polish and Italian immigrants of the town, fight back. Years later, when Clayton is grown up and running the farm himself, a new generation of bitter and resentful people try to run him off his land.

I liked reading about the McGhees. They are quiet, hardworking, polite. Clayton also loves to read. The descriptions of life on the farm reminded me of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, and also the country people of Wendell Berry's stories. I also liked reading about their somewhat marginalized friends, the Polish Cmicky, and a traumatized Civil War vet who lives like a hermit, trapping and fishing. Unfortunately, the narrative spends just as much time, if not more, exploring the inner lives of their enemies. This is useful to show that they have some complex humanity, and are not perhaps simply cold-blooded killers. But still, all the time I was in the smoky backrooms with conniving city dwellers, I wished I was back on the farm, and wished the McGhees could go on and on forever, keeping a neat, well-stocked barn.