The "Off the Grid" Readathon is done!

Today was the last day. I am currently 116 pages in ... that is 22 percent of the book and I am satisfied with my progress, given the responsibilities of Life. :-)
I am starting to get more hints of the "romance" part of the story that was  pointed out in the plot blurbs. Odds are the love story will be two characters that will have to go through unrest and/or tragedy to get to being a romance ... sigh. Anyway, this book was written in 2012 but the impeachment, partially on overstepping presidential powers, is a timely topic (given recent events).

The simple "assignment" of this readathon was to read a book by a black author. I restarted this one and didn't notice the stipulation of eschewing media ... so, I have been enjoying research on real-life people and making a list of portrayals that I want to see.

Ironically, this ended up next to a series that has Lincoln in it. John Jakes is also the author of The North and The South trilogy (remember the miniseries of each book had Patrick Swayze). Yes, the title of the first book, in the pile that is The Kent Chronicles, is "The Bastard."

From the best-selling author of The Emperor of Ocean Park and New England White, a daring reimagining of one of the most tumultuous moments in our nation’s past

Stephen L. Carter’s thrilling new novel takes as its starting point an alternate history: President Abraham Lincoln survives the assassination attempt at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. Two years later he is charged with overstepping his constitutional authority, both during and after the Civil War, and faces an impeachment trial . . .

Twenty-one-year-old Abigail Canner is a young black woman with a degree from Oberlin, a letter of employment from the law firm that has undertaken Lincoln’s defense, and the iron-strong conviction, learned from her late mother, that “whatever limitations society might place on ordinary negroes, they would never apply to her.” And so Abigail embarks on a life that defies the norms of every stratum of Washington society: working side by side with a white clerk, meeting the great and powerful of the nation, including the president himself. But when Lincoln’s lead counsel is found brutally murdered on the eve of the trial, Abigail is plunged into a treacherous web of intrigue and conspiracy reaching the highest levels of the divided government.

Here is a vividly imagined work of historical fiction that captures the emotional tenor of post–Civil War America, a brilliantly realized courtroom drama that explores the always contentious question of the nature of presidential authority, and a galvanizing story of political suspense."

HERE is an interview about the book and Carter's writing.


On ambition ...

There is a bit of punchline after this. :-)