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The Other Side: A Tale of the American Revolution
“This land will hold in memory what happened here. Deep in the soil,
an unhealed wound resides and tears away at humanity, challenging all that is just.”
1770 South Carolina Backcountry
How can one person own another in a country wrestling for freedom?
Dinah’s dark skin color ensures her dreams of freedom will always be just beyond her reach. Her owner, Elizabeth , finds herself powerless in a male-centered world. She seeks a false sense of control by dominating her slave in a culture of white supremacy. Enveloped in animosity and cloaked in mistrust, their lives are riddled with divided loyalties during the country’s first civil war.
Both the beauty and treachery of humanity shine through this story of national strife and the struggle for personal liberty.
BonnaSue Draper’s searingly honest novel explores the conflicts and contradictions of America’s birth amid America’s original sin. Based on the author’s family history, The Other Side offers a timely message of freedom, justice, and power.
Get your copy today and immerse yourself in this drama of war, slavery, and the quest for freedom.
an unhealed wound resides and tears away at humanity, challenging all that is just.”
1770 South Carolina Backcountry
How can one person own another in a country wrestling for freedom?
Dinah’s dark skin color ensures her dreams of freedom will always be just beyond her reach. Her owner, Elizabeth , finds herself powerless in a male-centered world. She seeks a false sense of control by dominating her slave in a culture of white supremacy. Enveloped in animosity and cloaked in mistrust, their lives are riddled with divided loyalties during the country’s first civil war.
Both the beauty and treachery of humanity shine through this story of national strife and the struggle for personal liberty.
BonnaSue Draper’s searingly honest novel explores the conflicts and contradictions of America’s birth amid America’s original sin. Based on the author’s family history, The Other Side offers a timely message of freedom, justice, and power.
Get your copy today and immerse yourself in this drama of war, slavery, and the quest for freedom.
378 pages, Paperback
Published October 13, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 3, 2022
I just finished this book and found it hard to put down. Not because there were any real "cliff-hangers," but because the characters were so vividly portrayed and human struggles so well defined on many levels and for many reasons. BonnaSue Draper has a lovely way with words. Her descriptions of the countryside, of personal interactions, and of emotions give life to the characters and their tales of survivals and triumphs in the slave-driven, racist society of South Carolina in the late 18th century. I recommend it to anyone who loves history and a good tale based on factual evidence. Ms. Draper researched for many months into her own family history and used real people to create her characters and situations.
November 11, 2022
What a wonderful story. Great writer. The characters leave you wanting to know what happens to them and only hope for the best for them. Really pulls you in to the story and had a hard time putting it down. Hope there is a sequel.
March 25, 2023
BonnaSue Draper takes a few genealogy facts from her family and weaves a heart-wrenching story of life in early America. Hugh McDonald is a white land baron who rules with an iron fist. He mistreats his slaves, is cold and uncaring to his wife and daughter, a man who wants to show his dominance and control over everything. His daughter Elizabeth befriends a slave girl near her own age, Dinah. Dinah is taken under the wing of Old Woman, a slave who comforts and teaches Dinah the ways of the plantation. Dinah and Elizabeth's friendship/ slave owner/slave relationship teaches us a lot about the time...how women were treated, how people of color were perceived. Elizabeth sees Dinah through white eyes, eyes of privilege where Dinah can never forget she is a slave. Elizabeth owns her so they may be friends on some level but not equal. The two perspectives make the story insightful.
William Wallace, a young man living in Ireland with no prospects decides to take advantage of the offer to go to America where he will be given land to farm. His close knit family hates to see him go but they know it's the right decision for him. William's land happens to be a part of the McDonald estate so a connection is formed with that family. Hugh decides to force Elizabeth to marry William, which she is very much against. Elizabeth wants to stay at home with her mother and be pampered not become a wife. Elizabeth finds her way to become a woman and head a household with Dinah and old woman's help. The story of William and Elizabeth takes center stage. William is strong, kind, gentle but young and has much to learn about being a husband. Elizabeth wants more for her life and for women. As she grows stronger and her real feelings come out she becomes a different person than the girl under her fathers thumb.
This account of relationships when men owned all and America was young is interesting and compelling to read. Elizabeth as the main character gives us a female perspective in a male dominated world.
William Wallace, a young man living in Ireland with no prospects decides to take advantage of the offer to go to America where he will be given land to farm. His close knit family hates to see him go but they know it's the right decision for him. William's land happens to be a part of the McDonald estate so a connection is formed with that family. Hugh decides to force Elizabeth to marry William, which she is very much against. Elizabeth wants to stay at home with her mother and be pampered not become a wife. Elizabeth finds her way to become a woman and head a household with Dinah and old woman's help. The story of William and Elizabeth takes center stage. William is strong, kind, gentle but young and has much to learn about being a husband. Elizabeth wants more for her life and for women. As she grows stronger and her real feelings come out she becomes a different person than the girl under her fathers thumb.
This account of relationships when men owned all and America was young is interesting and compelling to read. Elizabeth as the main character gives us a female perspective in a male dominated world.
October 20, 2023
The Other Side, A Tale of the American Revolution by BonnaSue Draper
The rebellion of the colonists who successfully fought for independence from Britain is familiar to most Americans. In the pages of this novel we learn about those colonists who made the difficult choice to remain loyal to the defeated British king.
The Other Side is all that an historical novel ought to be. It imbeds fictionalized characters into real events of the past. From genealogical sources in her own family, the author has created her main characters. Her skills as a novelist draw us into their lives and cause us to care about them.
William and Elizabeth Wallace are members of the large community of Scots Irish families who farmed in the South Carolina Backcountry in the mid 1700’s. Elizabeth, raised in the slave-holding culture, and William, an immigrant from Ireland, view slavery differently. Two slaves, attached to the Wallaces, play major roles in the lives of the couple. Dinah is a young woman, owned by Elizabeth since childhood. The other is Lloyd, purchased by William. The author portrays the relationships among these principal characters in ways that make each of them come alive.
I'm hoping for a sequel!
The rebellion of the colonists who successfully fought for independence from Britain is familiar to most Americans. In the pages of this novel we learn about those colonists who made the difficult choice to remain loyal to the defeated British king.
The Other Side is all that an historical novel ought to be. It imbeds fictionalized characters into real events of the past. From genealogical sources in her own family, the author has created her main characters. Her skills as a novelist draw us into their lives and cause us to care about them.
William and Elizabeth Wallace are members of the large community of Scots Irish families who farmed in the South Carolina Backcountry in the mid 1700’s. Elizabeth, raised in the slave-holding culture, and William, an immigrant from Ireland, view slavery differently. Two slaves, attached to the Wallaces, play major roles in the lives of the couple. Dinah is a young woman, owned by Elizabeth since childhood. The other is Lloyd, purchased by William. The author portrays the relationships among these principal characters in ways that make each of them come alive.
I'm hoping for a sequel!
June 1, 2023
On a recent sunny, May day, I spent an afternoon wandering through the grassy meadows and the stockade at historic Star Fort, just outside the small SC town of Ninety-Six. About 24 hours later, a copy of BannaSue Draper's novel arrived in my mailbox (a gift from my father-in-law who is, it seems, a friend of the author). I immediately sat down to read this tale of the American Revolution. This fictionalized version of events that unfolded on this historic site makes for a good read. Draper's characters provide insights into the relationships between slaves and owners and also adds additional insights from a young Irishman who arrives in South Carolina to carve out a new life. It is easy to distance oneself from how slavery was woven into the lives of those who peopled this region in that era. The issues are not "black and white" nor are they resolved by this novel. The book does, however, offer a thoughtful place to begin to examine the issues. I came away with a new respect for those who settled this region and wrestled with the challenges of changing times and attitudes.
February 18, 2023
Excellent book … Compelling and Engaging
I found this work of historical fiction compelling. Grounded solidly in historical facts it resonated profoundly with truths never given voice. The clear adherence to diverse Scotch/Irish, Slave, and Southern dialects gave the portrayal of the struggles of 3 diverse cultures a depth of authenticity, thus pulling the reader beyond the words into the heart of each of these journeys. The extensive research of this author, reflected particularly in the factual data from the Loyalist’s side was remarkable, and added veracity of the work. Beyond the research, it is the author’s depth of insight which makes the book so compelling. As the author fleshes out the stories of these individuals, most of whom are real, the she gives body and sinew to the journeys that intertwine these lives together... thus engaging the reader deeply in the lives of ordinary people who saw and lived life from “The Other Side.”
February 22, 2023
THE OTHER SIDE: A Tale of the American Revolution
BonnaSue Draper, Pooka Press, Crawford CO 2022, pb, 370 pg, $14.95
Fiction/Historical/Colonial America & Revolution
People of African descent are ‘prime movers’ at each stage of this captivating tale set in colonial South Carolina. BonnaSue Draper’s debut historical novel challenges the common view of America rising from inherent white superiority. She makes a persuasive case for the power of trans-racial relationships in our country’s history by highlighting dramatic accounts of survival accomplished through interdependence between slaves and immigrants.
Ear-opening passages let readers hear history recounted in both Gullah dialect and Scot-tinged dialogues as black and white women and men wrestle with envy, mistrust, romance, danger and commitment. This story is, perhaps above all, a testament to the peace available to all of us in literary fiction like The Other Side.
Reviewed by Judith Wright Favor on 2-21-23
BonnaSue Draper, Pooka Press, Crawford CO 2022, pb, 370 pg, $14.95
Fiction/Historical/Colonial America & Revolution
People of African descent are ‘prime movers’ at each stage of this captivating tale set in colonial South Carolina. BonnaSue Draper’s debut historical novel challenges the common view of America rising from inherent white superiority. She makes a persuasive case for the power of trans-racial relationships in our country’s history by highlighting dramatic accounts of survival accomplished through interdependence between slaves and immigrants.
Ear-opening passages let readers hear history recounted in both Gullah dialect and Scot-tinged dialogues as black and white women and men wrestle with envy, mistrust, romance, danger and commitment. This story is, perhaps above all, a testament to the peace available to all of us in literary fiction like The Other Side.
Reviewed by Judith Wright Favor on 2-21-23
November 2, 2022
Fans of historical fiction, particularly of the period during the closing days of the American Revolution in South Carolina; fans of books that provide psychological insight into the motivations of the characters and fans of books that model sensitivity to differences between people of different races and status will find this novel right up their alley. BonnaSue Draper has written a book that is hard to put down, a book that offers considerable food for thought and a book that is a model for ways to live our lives today. It is beautifully written.
March 7, 2026
A beautiful, easy read and a story that needs to be told. I really didn't understand the impact of slavery on the revolutionary war, what that first battle for "freedom" really looked like. Please read this book, you will want to learn more about us as a country.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews