Quakertown [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Lee Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 2002

In Quakertown, award-winning author Lee Martin travels back to 1920s Texas to tell the story of a flourishing black community that was segregated from its white neighbors-and of the remarkable gardener, Little Washington Jones, who was asked to make a heartbreaking choice.

Based on a true story, Quakertown draws on the rich texture of the South-of the Pecan Creek running along the edges of the town, the spectacular and rare white lilac, and the rising racial tensions that bubble under the surface and threaten to tear neighbors apart. With rare skill and compassion, Lee Martin carves out the delicate story of two families-one white and one black-and the child whose birth brings a gift of forgiveness.

"A consistently impressive and often dazzling new novel. In his richly dramatic re-imagining of the events behind Quakertown's demise, Lee Martin has written one of the finest novels of the year." (Jabari Asim, The Washington Post)

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in the neighborhood of Quakertown in a north Texas city in the 1920s, Martin's first novel (after a short story collection, The Least You Need to Know, and a memoir, From Our House) perfectly captures the quiet cicada hum of everyday life in a sleepy Southern community as well as the racial tension simmering beneath the surface. "Little" Washington Jones is a gardener of uncommon skill, able to make nearly anything grow in Denton's dry soil. What Little can't do is mend his broken town, or save his daughter, Camellia, from the heartbreak that will result from her love for the banker's son, Kizer Bell. When Little's employer, Andrew Bell, asks him to help smooth the division of Quakertown into white and black neighborhoods, Little doesn't know what to think. But Mr. Bell is a trustworthy man, and Little knows that the town will be segregated with or without him so he agrees to act as a go-between to the black community, for which he'll receive the job of caretaker for the new city garden and keep his place in the white neighborhood. But as the town divides, ugly feelings erupt, and it soon becomes clear that while Little may not lose his house, he will lose his home. For Martin, the genius is in the details a silver bead rolling across the floor, the clink of teacups rattling in the memory, the stretch of a man's neck as he leans away and the narrative acquires a fine, lace-like quality. While the characters fill somewhat basic roles, they evade stereotype by being finely drawn and compassionately understood. Unfortunately, Martin's light hand fails him toward the end, resulting in a too pat conclusion, but his gently melancholy style strikes a fine balance between literary fiction and accessible, emotion-driven storytelling.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

In post-Reconstruction Texas, Denton is a prosperous town in the north of the state with a rich history, pleasant living, and a women's college. On its outskirts is Quakertown, a thriving African American neighborhood, most of whose residents are of the first and second generations after emancipation. Race relations are cordial and even warm for a few enlightened individuals in both parts of Denton. But the Klan comes to town, and a Quakertown gardener takes it upon himself to save friends and neighbors from further maliciousness or worse. Martin captures the essence of the town and of social movements within its communities, which encompass followers of Marcus Garvey's return-to-Africa campaigns, fierce race separatists, those interested in keeping things how they've always been, and white industrialists who loved black women in their youth. Based on a genuine historical event, Martin's novel beautifully portrays an ugly time in a town's--and the nation's--history. Michael Spinella
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• ISBN-10: 0452283361
• ASIN: B000IOEV3A
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,003,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lee Martin is the author of the novels, The Bright Forever, a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction; River of Heaven; Quakertown; and the forthcoming Break the Skin. He has also published two memoirs, From Our House and Turning Bones, and another memoir, Such a Life, is set to appear in 2012. His first book was the short story collection, The Least You Need To Know. He is the co-editor of Passing the Word: Writers on Their Mentors. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in such places as Harper's, Ms., Creative Nonfiction, The Georgia Review, The Kenyon Review, Fourth Genre, River Teeth, The Southern Review, Prairie Schooner, and Glimmer Train. He is the winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council. He teaches in the MFA Program at The Ohio State University, where he was the winner of the 2006 Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars this book was great...., April 13, 2004

By 

Elizabeth Tyler (Overland Park, KS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quakertown (Paperback)

This book is great....
Reviewer: Elizabeth Tyler from Overland Park, KS USA
... for anyone who is interested in the true story of segregation in the 1920's. Althought the book is ficiton, Lee Martin creates the charaters as real as ever. From the father who knows all, to the daughter who is lovestruck and always in trouble, the book tells the magnificent story of a town in trouble. Quakertown is an all black neighborhood located in Texas. the whitefolks who reside in the town next to Quakertown have heard about the riots that are breaking out in other neighborhoods like Quakertown. The whites believe that they are the better men, their town is extremely segregated. The owners of businesses won't let black people try on clothes, drink from tehir water fountains, etc. Because of the riot rumors, the white folks decide that they are going to move Quakertown, houses and all to a patch of land further away. The black man who will help them accomplish this is Little Jones, the father of Camellia Jones. Little is the gardener of the town, and though he is black, has gained somewhat respect from the whitefolk. Camellia, who has fallen in love with the son of the town's bank president, becomes pregnant even though she is engaged to Ike Mattoon. All in all the book is a wonderful display of the segregated south and the attitudes the city and state had towards racial discrimination.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book is great...., April 13, 2004

By 

Elizabeth Tyler (Overland Park, KS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quakertown (Paperback)

... for anyone who is interested in the true story of segregation in the 1920's. Althought the book is ficiton, Lee Martin creates the charaters as real as ever. From the father who knows all, to the daughter who is lovestruck and always in trouble, the book tells the magnificent story of a town in trouble. Quakertown is an all black neighborhood located in Texas. the whitefolks who reside in the town next to Quakertown have heard about the riots that are breaking out in other neighborhoods like Quakertown. The whites believe that they are the better men, their town is extremely segregated. The owners of businesses won't let black people try on clothes, drink from tehir water fountains, etc. Because of the riot rumors, the white folks decide that they are going to move Quakertown, houses and all to a patch of land further away. The black man who will help them accomplish this is Little Jones, the father of Camellia Jones. Little is the gardener of the town, and though he is black, has gained somewhat respect from the whitefolk. Camellia, who has fallen in love with the son of the town's bank president, becomes pregnant even though she is engaged to Ike Mattoon. All in all the book is a wonderful display of the segregated south and the attitudes the city and state had towards racial discrimination.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars realistic view of both sides of one coin, August 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Quakertown (Hardcover)

This is a great story, that will carry you away back to a time when everything appears black and white. But in this book he shows you how grey life really is. His characters are involving and easy to get to know. It certainly is war and peace. But you won't put it down until the end.