Dawson's Fall: A Novel

by Roxana Robinson

A cinematic Reconstruction-era drama of violence and fraught moral reckoning

In Dawson's Fall, a novel based on the lives of Roxana Robinson's great-grandparents, we see America at its most fragile, fraught, and malleable. Set in 1889, in Charleston, South Carolina, Robinson's tale weaves her family's journal entries and letters with a novelist's narrative grace, and spans the life of her tragic hero, Frank Dawson, as he attempts to navigate the country's new political, social, and moral landscape.

Dawson, a man of fierce opinions, came to this country as a young Englishman to fight for the Confederacy in a war he understood as a conflict over states' rights. He later became the editor of the Charleston News and Courier, finding a platform of real influence in the editorial column and emerging as a voice of the New South. With his wife and two children, he tried to lead a life that adhered to his staunch principles: equal rights, rule of law, and nonviolence, unswayed by the caprices of popular opinion. But he couldn't control the political whims of his readers. As he wrangled diligently in his columns with questions of citizenship, equality, justice, and slavery, his newspaper rapidly lost readership, and he was plagued by financial worries. Nor could Dawson control the whims of the heart: his Swiss governess became embroiled in a tense affair with a drunkard doctor, which threatened to stain his family's reputation. In the end, Dawson--a man in many ways representative of the country at this time--was felled by the very violence he vehemently opposed.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Civil War, Novels, Book Club, Adult Fiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published May 7, 2019

About the author

Roxana Robinson is the author of eight works of fiction, including the novels Cost and Sparta. She is also the author of Georgia O’Keeffe: A Life. A former Guggenheim Fellow, she edited The New York Stories of Edith Wharton and wrote the introduction to Elizabeth Taylor’s A View of the Harbour, both published by NYRB Classics. Robinson is currently the president of the Authors Guild.

Reviews

[Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dawson’s Fall is a book about the author’s great grandparents. I think that excited me most of all! It takes place in Charleston, South Carolina in the late 1800s.

The hero of the book is Frank Dawson, who is trying to find his way after the Civil War. He came to the US from England and fought in the war on the side of the Confederacy, not fully understanding what that meant.

Frank later becomes a newspaper editor, and through that, he finds his voice while editorially writing about equal rights, citizenship, and nonviolence. Due to his opinions, many stop reading his paper and financially, it’s hard to keep it in press. There’s also a scandal involving the family’s governess and a local doctor.

The second half of this novel is strong and so engaging. I loved Frank as a character. No matter the cost, he spoke out and was determined to make change happen. We need changemakers in this world. Those who aren’t afraid to speak up about injustices. Overall, I’m grateful Roxana Robinson told us this impressive story of her family.

I received a gifted copy.

Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader

[Diane Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This was a must read for me, since it's set in Charleston SC and is a novelization of a true incident and the events leading up to it written by the Great-granddaughter of the main character, no less. She had access to all important documents, letters, and diaries, so her reconstruction of the facts was flawless.

I agree with those reviewers torn between the first and second halves of the novel. The first half moved slowly, and the newspaper articles seemed to be included in a haphazard manner, some of them seeming to have no bearing on the story at all, and slowed down the plot. But the author did a great job of recreating the feelings and resentments of the south after the Civil War and reconstruction, for both blacks and whites. The story sped up in the last half of the book, and the conclusion was riveting. All in all, a great addition to our local history shelves.

[Lolly K Dandeneau · Rating 4 out of 5]

via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
'Now he’s back in another kind of conflict, the alarms and confusions of daily life.'

While this novel is fiction, in the preface we are told that the author used authentic content, such as letters, diary entries and published sources of her own family, her great grandparents in particular. Her discomfort in the racism within’ her family is noted, but to ignore the attitudes of the times would be a disservice to the truth, especially of the hardships faced in the fight for equality. Both Frank and Sarah Dawson have thoughts that are easy to judge, such as the ‘distastefulness of mix racing’ Sarah feels. But then you have to sit with that thought, surrounded by the ignorance of the times, these are taught attitudes.

The novel opens with a nightmare Frank Dawson has just awaken from. Despite his wife Sarah’s intuitive nature, and the troubling feeling that remains, he can’t put much stock into dreams, he has enough pressing issues in his daily life than to allow a stranger in his sleep to torment him. As editor and part owner of the Charleston News and Courier his voice is his tool, his opinions strong and not always popular in the south where the war refuses to remain in the past. Death threats aren’t unusual for a man who tries to give black people political power. In fact, his ‘Southern roots’ certainly are in question, being England born can he really be one of them? Maybe he isn’t even really a Captain either! He loves his Charleston, and he wants it to thrive, but to understand the anger we must travel further back.

It is 1861, young Sarah Morgan is nineteen-years old and the ‘war is scattering her family’. The south doesn’t want the north interfering in its affairs, and the anti-slavery perspective isn’t one the south shares, after all they believe they ‘take care of their slaves’ and that they’d be helpless and lost without such care. Fate is about to turn against her family, with the war taking her brothers and threatening every southerner.

In Southampton, Englishman Frank Dawson stands on the deck of the Nashville (a steamer, once a mail ship to be fitted for war) as one of the crew. Unlike the other men, Dawson has a fine education, can speak four languages, read music and has a gentleman’s manners. Certainly he doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the rougher men. Little can one imagine he will rise through the ranks of the Confederate navy. In America, Dawson’s ‘network of friends’ and his intelligence, connections will teach him about the south. Here, he will support his brothers in arms against the north. From the water, he will turn to the land joining into the army. Sarah in the meantime taps into her own shocking nature, finding it necessary to arm herself with a pistol. They are under siege and must run from Baton Rouge with whatever they can carry. Chaos reigns, everything is in ruins, as are the people after the shelling. Sarah is fierce, and often the cries in her diary are, “Oh if I were a man!” because then she could fight off these hypocritcal Yankees, who are destroying everything people like her family have worked for, killing off all the men! He family gets smaller and smaller with each death. It is a world now of devastated women and children.

At the end of war, Dawson has been wounded, desperate for money and a job he soon has an offer to work for the Examiner, but soon Dawson meets B. F. Riordon, with whom he would later create a newspaper with. But first, as the assistant editor for the Charleston Mercury his views on the Fourteenth amendment don’t sit well with the bosses, staunch supporters of Confederacy, not one’s to ‘swallow’ the end of their empire and embrace the future. With the paper failing, it’s an opportunity for Dawson and Riordon to run a paper with truth and promote their south.

Soon, Frank Dawson and Sarah Morgan’s paths merge when Jem, Sarah’s brother, is seriously injured during an ‘incident’ and Dawson rushes to be at his side. So too, does his love blossom for Sarah. One small hitch, Dawson has a wife already but one who is gravely ill. After her passing, the two bond over literature but how to convince Sarah to marry him, particularly when she has no interest in doing ‘what is expected’ of women? The two begin to write each other, and I’m guessing the letters were authentic, oh what a dying art!

You know they marry, or else how could there be this very book about the author’s great grandparents? Dawson’s fall could come from anywhere, his progressive views (such as his stance on anti-lynching), the stories he prints that tell the truth about crimes by condemning always what is wrong, even if it means exposing ‘white South Carolinians’, particularly in the case of the Hamburg Militiamen massacre. History sidenote: Hamburg was an all black Republican community who had members in the militia, which were formed to safeguard said communities. Research the Hamburg Massacre, it will explain the gravity of the situation and why siding with the black community infuriated citizens. There was courage in Dawson and Riordon chosing to speak in defense of the militia, the truth can be dangerous! Lynchings, racism, rapes, war… this novel deals with seriously taboo subjects, history rears its ugly head.

Then there is the sleazy neighbor Dr. Thomas Mcdow who seduces Dawson and Sarah’s beautiful, young, Swedish governess Hélène. A man with murderous intentions who feels Dawson is interfering in his every plan, threatening to ruin him. Not that I particularly liked Hélène but I imagine being 22 and working as a sort of servant, though maybe higher on the totem pole than the other help, she’d be hungry for love, a husband. Sure, she was lucky to be a part of a respectable, important family but the young still have their fanciful ideas and are ripe for certain worldly wolves. What will it mean for Frank and Sarah?

There is a lot happening in Dawson’s Fall, looking back into your family history can be crushingly heartbreaking but it’s only because you are on the outside and know the end. As in all lives, there are sweet spots despite the tragic curtain fall. For fans of historical fiction, there is quite a bit of the past to chew on, a lot of shame as well. It seems Frank changed with the times and tried to be just, and that says a lot when it’s with great risk you go against popular thought. Morality is a strange beast, there are certain wrongs against nature that no amount of justification can excuse. History isn’t pretty, for one family war took and gave in equal measure but sometimes it is those closer to home that can seal your doom.

Publication Date: May 14, 2019

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Sarah Crichton Books

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable enough read, but would be an even better one if the two halves of the book were more balanced, and if the newspaper articles interspersed between some of the chapters were better integrated with the narrative. I found my attention wandering in the earlier chapters whereas the later ones are engaging indeed. It’s the story of Frank Dawson, a newspaper proprietor, whom we meet in 1880s South Carolina. Frank is a man of principals and integrity and struggles with the social and moral issues of post-Civil War America. His thriving newspaper is under threat from a rival paper which is blatantly racist, and the legacy of the War and its difficult aftermath pervade the novel’s pages. However, like Franks’ affairs, the novel doesn’t run smoothly, jumping about in time and space to fill in the back stories, and it wasn’t until we get to 1889 and the main action that, for me, the novel really took off. Frank is by far the most interesting character in the book and the reader’s empathy for him grabs our attention. Based on the author's own great-grandparents, and using original letters and diaries to add authenticity, overall it’s a worthwhile read, even given my caveats, and once the story really gets going, it’s a tense and moving one.

[Don Trowden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dawson’s Fall is a powerful novel that combines historical documents with the author’s own narrative in presenting an insider’s look at the American South in the years following the Civil War. Roxana Robinson skillfully interweaves her fictional narrative with the diary entries of Sarah Dawson, along with newspaper articles written by Sarah’s husband, Frank Dawson. The end result takes readers back to post-war South Carolina in a realistic way, back to when race relations were strained, as they remain to this day.

When the first diary entry appears toward the beginning of the novel, I was struck by the eloquence of Sarah Dawson’s writing. (She and Frank Dawson are ancestors of Robinson.) The diary entries reminded me of Louisa May Alcott, whose classic novel Little Women I recently reread. I wondered how much Alcott’s style influenced others of her time, including Sarah, similar to what we see across all the arts. “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” I’ve read all of Roxana Robinson’s previous novels so know full well what a gifted writer she is in her own right, yet upon encountering that first diary entry, my mind drifted to the thought of how brave she was to juxtapose her own prose with Sarah’s, and what a daunting task she was undertaking. But Robinson writes so well, this was not an issue as her voice pairs beautifully with the diary entries and adds the missing pieces needed to assemble a coherent and entertaining novel. I’m sure the author lived with those actual historical voices in her head for years as she found her own appropriate voice for this novel.

The newspaper entries from South Carolina are powerful in displaying the courage of Frank Dawson as he faced stiff opposition, driven largely by whites’ resentment of losing the war and the accompanying financial costs of losing their free slave labor. Frank Dawson is a man of high morals committed to expressing unpopular views even as he loses readers and scrambles for the funds to keep his newspaper afloat. He serves as a reminder of what we hope our journalists today can be when standing up to injustice. Not just our journalists, but all of us.

This engaging novel contains the best elements of outstanding fiction as well as historical nonfiction. (The author has also written a biography of Georgia O’Keeffe, and many of her novels have required in-depth research, especially Cost and Sparta.) Similar to the best works of historical nonfiction, Dawson’s Fall leaves the reader wondering if there is anything we can do to stop treading in the same unfortunate cycles. The debates of today were the debates of yesteryear, so how much progress have we actually made? Can we make?

We are fortunate to have an author of Roxana Robinson’s abilities writing in this time, where I for one am oftentimes disappointed by the award-winning novels I struggle to read. She possesses the sensitivities of the best novelists in bringing to life her imaginary worlds. She has all the tools in her toolbox, the abilities to create beautiful descriptive passages that are not superfluous, but add to the narrative. This is a pet peeve of mine for many contemporary writers, where I feel they insert descriptions for description’s sake, as opposed to making everything add to the whole. Robinson is a master of making everything she puts into her work add to the whole, and I highly recommend Dawson’s Fall to readers looking for an entertaining and intelligent historical novel that will leave you contemplating our southern history and how it connects to today.

[Kathleen Hulser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating historical novel based on incidents from the end of Reconstruction in South Carolina and Georgia, based on family diaries and letters, as well as better-known primary resources.
Frank Dawson, a crusading newspaper editor sails the stormy seas of resurgent white redemptionism, trying to find a place for the freedman in post-Civil War southern society. However, he is still a separatist who believes "the Negroes" to be inferior, although deserving of more education and opportunity to prove themselves. He is married to a New Orleans lady, full of good will and noblesse oblige, but still not ready to change much in her views of the "servants" as they call their slaves: seeing them as affectionate, loyal but eternally other. Sarah has enough education to write essays for her husband's newspaper but enough feminine prudence to only publish under a man's name.
Frank Dawson accepts the new class of black legislators, but we only catch glimpses of them in their official capacity. For today's readers the lack of African-American voices in a novel about Reconstruction is startling, even though it might be period appropriate to cast the servants in their traditional subordinate roles. Perhaps, Robinson has bowed to the boundaries of their world, not introducing what might seem like contemporary attitudes into a period setting. But the author's freedom to enter anyone's mind still can be used in historical settings, much as for the inner lives of the white protagonists. However, the recalling of the gruesome massacre at the black town of Hamburg in the Edgefield district is welcome, reminding us of how savage the onset of Jim Crow was in South Carolina the state that gave its disputed electoral votes to Rutherford Hayes in return for the withdrawing Federal troops from the South.
The author is a descendant of these folks, tracing roots back to Welsh rebels that hid in the mountains and fought British rule for centuries, but also to pacifists, Quakers and New England abolitionists such as Henry Ward Beecher. The British background is offered as part of the reason for the violence of the South, a constant clash of explosive temperaments that results in duels, fights, vendettas and of course, racist lynching. And Robinson correctly appraises the political uses of the division of lower class into entitled poor whites hating even poorer blacks. Fire-eater Ben Tillman makes an appearance in his real life persona as back-country demagogue riding the waves of post-Reconstruction Bloody Shirt politics to disenfranchise and demonize southern blacks.

[Elisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Premise was fascinating, but execution sadly lacking. Forced myself to get to 40% of the book and had to finally give up at that point - poorly written and extremely disjointed narrative. Was in Charleston when I was reading book and had really hoped for a book that would help illuminate the history of the area. This book was not it. I'm completely perplexed as to why the Wall St Journal recommended it as I found it to be without merit.

[Debbie Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dawson’s Fall follows Roxana Robinson's great grandfather who immigrated to the States from England to join the Confederate cause. He falls in love and marries woman from a prominent Louisiana family and they settle in Charleston where he runs a newspaper and publishes the truth during the angry and violent reconstruction era. It is this truth that creates challenges and results in personal and financial conflict. South Carolina had one of the highest number of slaves per capita due its heavy dependence upon the plantation business. After the war, most plantations had been destroyed, and the elimination of free labor led to financial struggles of those still operating. Most importantly, the slaves were citizens with voting rights, which resulted in a majority of political offices filled by Blacks. The white man’s fury simmered in the teakettle of Southern society until 1876, when it screamed its vengeance. Whites turned against the Blacks, culminating in the Hamburg massacre—a brutal, gruesome white revolt.

While Dawson’s attitude about race was typical of the times (he felt the Black race was inferior and recognized the complex problems associated with their voting power), he abhorred the violence and oppression ingrained in the Southern society. Dawson eviscerated the inhumanity and violence of the Hamburg massacre, and continued to take strong stands against lynching and dueling. He found these violent remedies revolting. His opinions and stands lead to subscription losses and financial problems, while other journals with less integrity thrived.

Ultimately, Dawson’s big crisis did not relate to these societal issues but instead to more quotidian problems surrounding a domestic employee. Still, the rampant violence that slavery demanded, and their freedom ignited, impacted every aspect of life and certainly had an indirect impact on Dawson’s fate.

Roxanna Robinson is an extraordinary writer with an intelligent eye for detail. She does not shy away from emotion but instead leads the reader right inside the heart and lets us sit there for a while. Her research is deep and thorough; her impartial, nonjudgmental approach to character development is honorable and revealing. I felt I was right there in the soul of her great grandmother, feeling her love, her struggles and her immense grief. She inserts articles and historical backstory in the first half, which does slow reading and may bother a reader who wants a faster read and isn’t looking for a history education. But for me, someone with roots in the South and slave owning ancestors, who loves to be educated, I appreciated this story. It’s a gracious discussion of the Southern tragedy that was slavery and racism and the violence that surrounded them. An important historical novel based upon well-researched truth. Certainly this story has relevance to our times.

[Rochelle Jewel Shapiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The characters are so beautifully wrought. You can tell the intensity of the interest the author has for this period and this newspaper editor modeled after a relative. Her research brings us more deeply into the Civil War, how it effected families. The mores of the time--the highest ethical standard, yet condoning slavery. Fascinating.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a bit conflicted in reviewing this book.

First - I know the author, Roxana Robinson, a bit and admire her work.

Second - Our New England genealogies overlap in some ways, though to the best of my knowledge I have no early southern connections. (My husband's ancestors, however, have experienced both the "southern guilt", and the pride of having owned a newspaper - albeit in Norfolk, CT).
My family traces to Harriet Beecher Stowe, as I imagine many others do, too. Robinson's family also has the Beecher-Stowe connection. From the preface of this book: "Many of my family were ministers and outspoken: Lyman Beecher and his son, Henry Ward Beecher, my great grandfather. Harriet Beecher Stowe was my great-great-great aunt. We spoke up for what we believed in. My father's side of the family have roots both in New England and in the south. The story of my southern family and their principles was more complicated than that of my New England family because of slavery. I couldn't ignore its presence. All southern families regardless of their race which trace their bloodlines back before the Civil War are affected by the presence of that particular institution. They may not mention it, but it helps shape who they are. So I wondered about this. How did people of principle navigate the ethical maelstrom of slavery? How could they maintain personal integrity during that dark basilisk reign or during its terrible aftermath?".

Third: The author had access to many fascinating, detailed family journals and papers, and the temptation to use them all in creating a history of the ante-bellum period must have been overwhelming.

Fourth: By using so much of the material, a larger picture is drawn of the period, but also one that it inevitably complex, detailed, and somewhat disjointed - there are so many characters introduced that it is sometimes difficult to keep track of them all. In truth - if you were writing your family history and had close knowledge of many of them, which members would you leave out? What information from family journals could you willingly omit?

Fifth: The first part of the book was often painful, as it dealt with the big issues of the Reconstruction period and the horrendous treatment of former slaves. I suffered when I recently read Chernow's Grant and learned of these horrors; reading about them in Dawson's Fall was both confirming and very unpleasant.

Sixth: Despite the pain of reading about that period, I did enjoy the broad historical outlook. About halfway through the book, the coverage switched from the large to the small picture, and almost exclusively covered the history of one family (Robinson's great grandparents) and their private trials and tribulations. Although it is set against the broader problems of the period, its focus was primarily on the scandal and downfall of one family and made me less engaged....I prefer reading about larger cultural movements, compared to injustices visited upon one smaller group.

Seventh: I understand that it would be nigh impossible to omit the details of a trial that your ancestors were directly involved with, particularly one so juicy as this, but I wish the details had congealed better. The bigger themes of jealousy, yearning for what we don't have and protecting what we do have - those are the concepts that intrigued me.

+++++++++++
Random Notes:

-14 politics means shifting alliances and Dawson's used to riding the waves... but this rage is growing, not abating
-15 it’s the 1880s. The planters resent having to pay wages to men they used to own. Shifting alliances means shifting newspaper reading - the role of newspapers in our history is vital, and it's upsetting to see what has been happening to them
-chapters 23 etc.gets too disjointed. Too many characters too quickly told, not enough time to digest who they are or start to care about them.
-46 darkness pooled in the corners, p 289 the darkness pools inside him, p 310 the streets pooled with water - I wouldn't have noticed
the repeated use of this verb, except it caught my attention (and I enjoyed it) so much the first time it was used
-118, 119 all about reconstruction and how the whites resented the blacks and were determined to keep them down
-Ch 21, p 156 etc about voter suppression - could be written about today
-that's interspersed with next chapter which is a macro-issue, the dirty old man doctor pursuing young nanny
-181 the Liberia solution, that even Lincoln was for
-even "liberals" thought the blacks were inferior at the time

[Really Into This · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rachel contributed this review to Really Into This

Check out all of our reviews at https://reallyintothis.com
Happy Reading, friends!

DAWSON'S FALL BY ROXANA ROBINSON
Being from the south and having visited many of the towns this story was placed gave me a weird sense of home when reading. The way she describes the historical events that took place and the attitudes of the people during this time are very well done. It truly transported me back to the 1800’s and the struggles our country was having during that time.

Dawson started his journey in England and finagled his way onto a US navy ship to come to America. His story is one of true Southern style. His wife Sarah is a strong southern woman who had her own trials growing up. With her support, he continues to become one of the most well-known people in Charleston. His paper is for the town but as his own views begin to differ from the popular opinion during the time, things begin to get shaky. How to maintain a good household and an upstanding newspaper?

THE VERDICT
I did have some difficulty getting into Dawson's Fall by Roxana Robinson. In the beginning, due to so many characters being introduced and switching stories often but as you continue these introductions only add to the depth of the story. It was an eloquently written story of a turbulent time for the south. It was a rollercoaster of a ride at the end. It's amazing to know that majority of what happens comes from true stories. A true porch and coffee kind of book for me.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank Dawson leaves all he knows in England to come to the United States to join the Confederacy in their fight against the Union in the Civil War. He becomes well known and mostly well liked in his community of Charleston, South Carolina. He becomes the editor of the Charleston News and Courier and his opinion is valued as the South tries to grow again after the ravages of the war.

It was a very difficult time in the country’s history as the South was dealing with the destruction the war wrought, the emancipation of the slaves which left them without their “free” labor source and the impact of various political forces on moving forward. Frank uses his platform to promote his liberal views which are, for the most part well received. He grows his family and all seems to be going well.

Then another paper opens with opposing views, more conservative views particularly when it comes to the freed slaves. Dawson finds his paper is losing subscribers and his business starts to wobble. He also finds himself embroiled in a feud with a neighbor. That neighbor, a doctor seems to have developed an obsession with the Dawson family nanny.

Ms. Robinson created the story from family diaries and historical records. It is a fascinating look at a tumultuous time in this country’s history. It does start a little slowly but it picks up and I found that I couldn’t put it down. Dawson is a rich and complicated man; his story is just one of the many immigrant tales that have built this country into what it is today. Each little piece in each little town and city has brought us to today.

4.5

[Marvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This reminds me in some ways of the fictionalized history of Chicago in the 19th century, Make Me a City, that I read earlier this month. This is a fictionalized biography of a newspaper editor in Reconstruction-Era Charleston, South Carolina. Actual newspaper stories illustrate what a violent society the Reconstruction-Era South was, even when only white citizens were involved. Quotes from correspondence and from the editor’s wife’s Civil War diary add historical verisimilitude. As in Make Me a City, the subject is fascinating: a newspaper editor who immigrated from England specifically to fight for the Confederacy during the Civil War but, as a newspaper editor with an unduly optimistic view of human nature, both absorbs Southern racial attitudes and, at the same time, becomes unpopular for challenging the increasingly harsh and violent expressions of Southern racism. His wife is an interesting character, too. But, also as in Make Me a City, the author veers off into peripheral stories and characters that don’t really advance the narrative. And the writing seems uneven, at times eloquent and vivid, at others choppy and obscure, even repetitive. It is good, though, to see a positive portrayal of a marriage. At the same time it is, as the reviewer for Publishers Weekly noted, "a startling reminder of the immoral and lasting brutality visited on the South by the institution of slavery."

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dawson's Fall is a novel based on the lives of the author's great-grandparents in Charleston, SC in 1889. She used family papers, journals, letters and newspaper articles for the basis of the novel but also did extensive research about America during the years after the Civil War.

The war between the states is over but its effects were still felt in Charleston. Frank Dawson survived the war and is now the editor of the Charleston News and Courier. He appears to be living comfortably with his wife Sarah and their two children but is having several financial problems that he hasn't shared with his wife. As Frank continues to write editorials about equal rights and nonviolence, his newspaper readership is dropping rapidly because these are not the views of most of the people in Charleston who were against Black people owning property and voting.

This was an interesting look at the views of people after the Civil War. I thought that it was well written and appreciated that the author used the journal entries and letters of her family to tell the story. I do agree with many reviewers that the first half of the story was difficult to get through because of all the characters. However, I encourage you to read this book for the story that's told in the second half. It is an excellent look at the conflicting views about race after the Civil War.

[Clazzzer C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my favourite genre, historical fiction. This novel is set in Charleston South Carolina during the civil war. Is is a fictional story but based on and during factual events centring around the American Civil War. Frank Dawson travelled on a steam ship from South Hampton. He was a well educated man who succeeded in rising through the ranks in the Confederates He was wounded during the war and afterwards was desperate for a job, any job. He got a job as assistant editor for the Charleston Mercury but had opposing views to those traditionally held by that newspaper and its journalists. As the newspaper was failing he seized the opportunity to speak or publish his own mind and he encountered much opposition as one can only imagine in the South when the 14th amendment had been passed. . He admonishes lynching and the massacres of blacks, a view that is highly unpopular at the time. This book is based on historical evens as well as evidence from letters and historical documents belonging to the author herself. It is a very enjoyable read, housing a fountain of information on this era in history. I give it 3 and a half stars.

[Elizabeth Rouse Fielder · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Dawson’s Fall, Roxana Robinson tells the story of her slave-owning ancestors in a way that condemns their participation in slavery while highlighting the violence of the times, barely concealed as a Code of Honor, the Code Duello, in a way that implies it was almost inevitable.

Part One drags with the confusion of multiple ancestors, explanation of characters and beliefs, history, etc., but there is no doubt from the first line (and title) that Robinson’s great-grandfather, Dawson, is doomed, just not in the way anyone expected at the time or while reading the book. The ominous dreams of Dawson and his wife Sarah on the day of his death foretell his end. Robinson sprinkles the sad, violent tale with haunting truths: “Whatever you have you think is yours. You believe you’re entitled to it. But you will come to learn that you are entitled to nothing.”

Part Two reveals the early courtship of Dawson and Sarah before their marriage while sharing more of the violent history in the South after the Civil War when white former slave-owners resented the loss of their way of life that they had enjoyed before the war, an unrequited nostalgia that borders on mass delusion.

Part Three exposes the deadly vulnerability of Dawson’s illusion of Southern honor codes that he wants to believe govern his life and all civilized life when he is confronted by the mentally deranged neighbor, Dr. McDow, who has become obsessed with the nanny for Dawson and Sarah’s 2 children. The unseemly Dr. McDow was best described by one reviewer as a Snidely Whiplash cartoon character. The interactions would be ridiculous if they weren’t based on a true story.

Robinson’s writing is wonderful, and I encourage everyone to make the effort to bridge the gap between Part One to Part Three. While the story moves back and forth from that fateful day in 1899 into the past of family members, the lengthy diary entries from Sarah Morgan Dawson and the insertion of violent news stories from the day, establish the era's violence, contrasted with the loving heart-beats of the characters. The rapid drama of the tragic ending pulls the story together. It is a timely cautionary tale, warning us against self-delusion and succumbing to irrational fears that easily lead to fatal violence.

[BettyJoyce Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insightful page-turner based on the life of the author's great-grandfather, told in letters, newspaper excerpts from the Charleston (S.C.) News & Courier, and accounts of life in the Reconstruction South.

Having grown up in South Carolina, with tainted textbooks, and lived in Charleston, the events and characters taught me this violent history, the full extent of which I'm ashamed at not knowing. Truth is stranger than fiction. Roxana Robinson states in her bibliography (she drew her story from historical accounts as well as letters from her great-grandmother):

"As a novelist, I have imagined thoughts and dialogue. But as a biographer I have hewed to what is known and documented, and have knowingly changed no facts. The most preposterous things in this narrative are true."

[Tracy King · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm. I would like to give it more than 2 stars because it is a well-written book that illuminates a historical time period in a new way, but I just can't. The 1st half in particular is a real slog, cluttered up with overly long accounts of historical events. The information was worth knowing and really gave the reader a dark feeling of the post-Civil War south, but...ugh, it got long and boring. Even in the 2nd half of the book, in which the plot finally got some momentum, everything was drawn out. I won't spoil the details, but certain things are given a chapter when a page would do. Skip this and find a better book.

[Pj Gaumond · Rating 4 out of 5]

The historical aspects and characters of this book were very well developed. The story mostly takes place after the Civil War with the main character being an immigrant during the Civil War. Dawson is an imposing figure who fights for the disadvantaged freed slaves after the war. He is a newspaper owner in Charleston SC and champions education and opportunities for them. The book shows the justices and injustices and everything in between. All in all a very enjoyable read. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a good historical read. I did win this book and received an autographed copy from the author.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a very difficult beginning, the novel settles down and has quite a story to tell. The author has a difficult time trying to integrate newspaper articles and diary entries into the story . I almost stopped reading early on because the characters were so confusing, but it is worth struggling through because the story of the author’s ancestors is so intriguing. There is a lot to tell about the Dawsons’ life during Civil War and Reconstruction in the south. And, I found much of what she has to say equally relevant today as we grapple with issues of social justice and reparations.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is inspired by the author's great-grandparents. It beautifully weaves her great-grandparent's love letters, and newspaper articles. While it is about her great-grandparents and their love story, it is really a story about racial, social, and political changes post Civil War. The main character makes it a point to treat everyone equally and uses his newspaper to highlight injustices against black people in the South. Which makes him very unpopular. It was an emotional, informative, and beautiful read.

[AM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. Its portrayal of the American South immediately after the Civil War is convincing and enlightening. The theme that violence has been in America's blood since our beginning comes across so clearly in this story. I enjoyed the complex portrayal of Dawson as a man with conflicting views on race and equality; as he is the author's great-grandfather, I appreciated her not making him out to be "perfect."

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Frank Dawson struggles with bringing controversial issues to his post Civil war paper in South Carolina. He knows in his heart, he needs to bring up dividing issues..he needs “balanced” news reporting. I thought the second half of book was better than the first. Most of the characters , Frank being my favorite, were based on the author’s family members from that time period.

[Fred Misurella · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written historical novel that treats some of the most important issues in American life: racism, freedom of the press, and moral, as opposed to political, truth. It's a must-read for anyone interested in the individual's attempt find a straight path through the rough terrain of our country's last 150 years.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost impossible for me to keep reading although I respect the author’s intent to take the blinders off and look frankly at her own family’s history. The reality of Reconstruction and the obvious inheritance of racism in 21st century USA makes for many painful and bitter pages. What do we — the author and her relatives, the reader, and America — do about it?

[Phyllis · Rating 3 out of 5]

First third was a bit confusing--a family tree in the endpaper would have helped. Once the story hits its stride, Frank Dawson and the other characters come to life. Charleston provides a rich setting, as usual.

[Siobhan Harrop-McDiarmid · Rating 3 out of 5]

The use of diary entries from 2 people as well as a fictionalized account made this book more difficult to read than a standard novel but the historical detail was interesting. There are also insights into the psychology of the southern white mind here.

[Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

What starts as a family history becomes a crime story. It is an impressive piecing together of history with some fictional elements. I am glad that timeline stopped skipping around (like in the beginning of the book).

[Mandi Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite frankly, this book was tedious reading. The pages of dairy quotations were painfully drawn out to the point of boredom. The plot meandered slowly along and the author’s writing style was particularly constipated. Skip this one.

[Elaine Pasky]

Decided not to read.