Title: A free state
Description: This novel is set in 1855, when Blackface minstrelsy is the most popular form of entertainment in a nation about to be torn apart by the battle over slavery.  Henry Sims, a fugitive slave and a brilliant musician, has escaped to Philadelphia.  He befriends James Douglass, leader of the Virginia Harmonists, a minstrel troup.  A Free State is both a riveting chase novel and a searing parable of liberty and its costs.  Charged with narrative tension and unforgettable characters, it is a thrilling work by a novelist at the height of his powers--Dust jacket.
Subjects: Fugitive slaves, African American musicians, Minstrel shows, Fiction, African americans, fiction, Philadelphia (pa.), fiction, Musicians, fiction, Fiction, general
Places: Philadelphia (Pa.)