Washed in the Blood
Spanning 400 years of American history, Alther’s intricately woven narrative traces the lives of the New World’s native inhabitants, conquerors, and settlers on to future generations, who find themselves continuing to deal with issues of racial identity and prejudice in the early twentieth century. In 1537, swineherd Diego Martin arrives in “La Florida” with an expedition led by vengeful conquistador Don Sebastian, who first befriends then abandons Martin to an uncertain fate in an unforgiving wilderness. Three hundred years later, Quaker Daniel Hunter forsakes the culture and ease of urban Philadelphia to establish a rudimentary school in the wilds of rural Virginia, where he falls in love with a mountain girl, Galicia Martin. Decades later, her namesake falls in love with Will, a mixed-race boy from that same impoverished community, not realizing that he is actually her cousin. Through subtle and sensitive observations, the ever-astute Alther keenly coaxes the critical nuances of family, loyalty, and heritage from this abundantly fertile slice of the American landscape. --Carol Haggas