Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother's Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South Hardcover – October 18, 2016

An Amazon Best Book of October 2016: At the center of Beth Macy’s exhaustively researched and fascinating Truevine are two brothers, either abducted or bartered to a circus where the African American albinos were forced to present themselves as “Ambassadors from Mars,” or “White Ecuadorian Cannibals,” or “Sheep-Headed Men” (no matter the iteration, they could play mandolin and guitar, too!). George and Willie Muse traveled the world, even performing for the Queen of England, while their mother remained in the Jim Crow South, not knowing where and how they were. She never gave up hope, however, and nearly three decades later they were reunited, setting off a protracted legal battle, the result of which ensured that her sons would be paid their due. Now think about that for a second. It’s almost easier to believe that her children were, in fact, from Mars than to accept that a black woman was able to utilize and benefit from a legal system during a time when lynchings were still horrifyingly common. And yet that’s how determined and fearless she was. Macy deftly, and with palpable reverence, captures the extraordinary bond between the three of them—a bond unscrupulous scouting agents, greedy circus owners, a perfidious father, and 28 years of separation couldn’t break. But this isn’t a story with a bow tacked on at the end. There is an uncomfortable thread that runs throughout: For all mother Muse did to bring her boys home, did the circus provide a better one? A place where the “freaks” found community, purpose--where their otherness was exploited, but also celebrated? (Even rewarded?) And there are other complex racial questions Truevine raises, questions we are still grappling with today. It’s a multi-layered story that will captivate, haunt, and challenge you. --Erin Kodicek, The Amazon Book Review

A New York Times Notable Book of 2016

One of Janet Maslin's Top 10 Books of 2016 in the New York Times

One of The San Francisco Chronicle's Top Ten Books of 2016

One of the Best Books of 2016 - Amazon, Kirkus, The Tampa Bay Times, The Houston Chronicle, BookPage, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A Kirkus Prize Finalist

Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

Named one of fall's most anticipated titles by Vulture, Entertainment Weekly, Kirkus, The Millions, Literary Hub and others!




"'It's the best story in town,' a colleague told Beth Macy decades ago, 'but no one has been able to get it.' She now has, with tenacity and sensitivity. She gives a singular sideshow its due, offering these 'Ambassadors from Mars' a remarkable, deeply affecting afterlife."―Stacy Schiff, author of The Witches

"This compelling account of one family's tragic exploitation provides an important lens through which America's tortured racial history and the cruel legacy of Jim Crow can be seen anew."―Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy and founder and director of the Equal Justice Initiative

"Taking us into the dark corners of American history that are discussed only in whispers, Beth Macy shines a bright light on the racial profiteering of circus freak shows and the Jim Crow South. In the remarkable Truevine, Macy manages to do what all the exploitative showmen wouldn't dare; she humanizes the Muse brothers, and in doing so, she has written an unforgettable story of both heartbreak and enduring love."―Gilbert King, author of Devil in the Grove

"A consummate chronicler of the American South spotlights the extraordinary history of two kidnapped African-American brothers enslaved as a circus sideshow act... Macy vividly illustrates circus life during the 1920s, and she movingly depicts how the brothers' protective, determined mother, Harriett, eventually discovered and rescued them almost a decade and a half later... A sturdy, passionate, and penetrating narrative. This first-rate journey into human trafficking, slavery, and familial bonding is an engrossing example of spirited, determined reportage."―Kirkus (starred)

"Macy's exploration of the long-hidden fate of two young African Americans and how that fate illuminates the atrocities of the Jim Crow South is as compelling as Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks...both are absolutely stunning examples of narrative nonfiction at its best...Certain to be among the most memorable books of the year."―Connie Fletcher, Booklist (starred review)

"Beth Macy has a way of getting under the skin of American life, burrowing into the seemingly ordinary to find the weird and wonderful taproots of our society. This true tale from rural Virginia will enrage you, inspire you, make you shake your head and rear your fist. And as the pages keep turning, you'll feel yourself slipping into a gothic world of freaks and geeks, and surreal racial thinking, that seems both deeply strange and yet, sadly, all too familiar."―Hampton Sides, author of In the Kingdom of Ice, Blood and Thunder, and Americana

"If over a hundred years ago there had been Black Lives Matter, the mother of George and Willie Muse would have joined and marched for the safe return of her sons. Back then, almost a century ago, she could only keep learning and finding folk who agreed she had a right to her family...a right to the love and protection of her sons. Beth Macy in Truevine has given us a stirring story of the persistence of faith...the strength of love...in this tale of a mother's journey to reclaim not only her sons but her right to them."―Nikki Giovanni, poet and one of Oprah Winfrey's "Twenty-five Living Legends"

"Love and kinship impelled Harriet's family to try for a century to protect George and Willie...from a world that saw them as objects for exploitation. Macy, for her part, works hard to illuminate the brothers' story...Macy is a gifted storyteller and a dogged researcher, and readers will be riveted by her account of Harriet Muse's struggle to find her sons."―Edward E. Baptist, New York Times Book Review

"Expert...[Macy's] reportorial methods are inspiringly persistent (and [her] books certainly bear that out)...you can feel Ms. Macy's admiration wafting off the page."―Janet Maslin, New York Times

"Extraordinary... 'Truevine' is at once poignant and rigorous, a compassionate dual biography and a forthright examination of codified racism. Macy is a resourceful reporter and a strong but never showy writer... This book, her second after 'Factory Man,' is the work of a journalist whose persistence, empathy and commitment to accuracy can't be doubted.... 'Truevine may focus on events that began a century ago, but its guiding spirit couldn't be more urgent."―Kevin Canfield, The San Francisco Chronicle